Switched
by Squidkid11
Summary: ON HIATUS. Normal day. Find Eggman's base, trash some bots, break in, trash some more bots. Nothing unusual. But who knew things could go so wrong in just a Sonic Second.
1. Discovery

OK, before I start, First off, all of the characters (At least in this chapter) belong to SEGA, not me. Also, I dearly apologize if I got the personalities very wrong. I tried.

Second, this entire story is based off of this picture: art/Awkward-413069054

Yea. I have no original thoughts. :I

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**Prologue****:**

"Shadow! How do you use these things?"

"I don't know, Faker! Just figure it out! Silver! How do you do that thing with your powers?"

"Um...I just do...Sonic? How do you move so fast?"

"I move my legs really fast, duh!"

Things were getting out of hand.

**Chapter 1: Discovery **

Sonic grinned, patting the hedgehog floating beside him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Silver. We'll get ya back to your own time." He smiled again, turning to the other hedgehog who was keeping pace with him easily. "Right, Shads?"

"Hmph." The midnight hedgehog answered, the rocket skates sliding easily over the ground.

Silver's eyes widened gratefully and a smile broke his worried face. "Thanks, guys." He said, then muttered to himself. "I'm still not sure how I got here in the first place…"

"Chaos." Shadow butted in, not breaking a stride as he spoke. Silver made a confused face as he floated alongside the two speeding hedgehogs.

Sonic rolled his eyes before explaining. "What Shadow is talking about, is that Chaos often does weird things to Space and Time. Around the time you arrived the two of us had just beaten Egghead by going Super- where our abilities are enhanced ten-fold by collecting and using the power of all 7 emeralds." Sonic explained after Silver had made a face.

"That's what confuses me, what's Chaos and these emeralds you talk about?" He asked.

"Well, the Chaos Emeralds are 7 large emeralds that hold a massive amount of energy-almost limitless. As for what Chaos is, well…Ask Shadow, he's the master of it." The blue hero swiveled his head around to stare at the red-striped hedgehog gliding along-side him.

"Thanks. Leave me with the hard job." He said, rolling his eyes. Sonic opened his mouth to retort, but Shadow swept on, not giving the quick-witted hero the chance to make a comment. "Generally, Chaos is a power that can warp space and time, we call that Chaos Control. It is also an immeasurable amount of power, which I control to use Chaos Spear and Chaos Blast. It lives inside every living being, more strongly in the Chaos Emeralds, me, and –oh God I can't believe I'm saying this-Sonic." Shadow shuddered before adding. "Though how he's one of them is beyond me."

Sonic's cocky smirk fell to a face of shock and mock-hurt. He put a hand over his heart and looked at Shadow with wide eyes. "Shadow! That hurts!"

Shadow narrowed his eyes, reaching behind his head into his quills that hid his hand gun. "You know what else hurts..?"

Sonic's eyes widened and he held up his hand in surrender. "OK! OK! You win!" Shadow let his empty hand drop and made an 'I-Thought-So' face. Sonic scowled.

"Hey, Guys?" Silver's voice broke in and the two squabbling hedgehogs glanced over at him, their argument forgotten. "How much farther until Eggman's base?" He asked, scanning the empty desert around him.

Sonic looked around, her emerald eyes searching the desert. He grinned, pointing a finger in the direction of a small sand dune. "We're here." Both Silver and Shadow exchanged looks of confusion-a first. Sonic noticed and rolled his eyes. "You'll see." He said, sand spraying in every direction from his shoes as he skidded to a stop. Shadow and Silver both stopped easily, Silver just dropping to the ground when the blue aura around him faded. Shadow just stopped using his rocket-shoes and he took a few steps forward to steady himself. Sonic strolled forward, then turned and bowed to the other two Mobians. Shadow considered driving an elbow into the blue hedgehog's back while he had his eyes closed.

"Welcome, to the Eggbase." Sonic said, straightening up to go into a spin-dash. The silver and black hedgehogs put their hands up in front of their faces as the blue speedster dove into the sand, sending it flying in every direction as he dug. A thunk sounded, followed by a triumphant cry from Sonic. He poked his sand-covered head out of the hole, a smug grin planted firmly on his face. "Called it." He dropped back into the hole as Shadow and Silver walked forward to drop into the hole as well. They blinked as they stared down the fifty-foot drop. It didn't come as a huge shock to how fast he had dug it, but it was still a long drop. Shadow shrugged before powering on his rocket-shoes and he slowly hovered to the ground. Silver followed suit, using his telekinesis to slow his fall.

When all three hedgehogs had dropped down, they found Sonic leaning cockily against a metal door with the red leering Eggman insignia. Sonic opened his mouth when Shadow cut him off. "Don't. Even. Think. About. It." He hissed dangerously. Sonic quickly snapped his mouth shut, taking Shadow's advice to heart.

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Well, here we go. I'll update the first few chapters pretty fast, but after that...I don't know.

Please read and review, any advise will be taken into account. :)


	2. Reminiscing

Alright, here's Chapter 2. I just want to point out the fact that I blatantly used a line that I stole from the Archie Comics. I'll admit it. It's not my line. It'll give away some of the story if I post it up here, so I'll post the line at the bottom. Sorry, Archie. It just fit so well.

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**Chapter 2: Reminiscing**

The door fell over with a heavy clang, revealing a wide-eyed Silver, a face-palming Sonic, and Shadow with one foot stuck out from when he had kicked the door down. "Shadow!" Sonic hissed. "What were you thinking?! Now Eggman knows we're here!"

Shadow shrugged, putting his foot down again. "Knowing you, he was going to know anyway." Sonic's eyes blazed dangerously, and he searched his mind furiously for a comeback. He opened and closed his mouth multiple times; he looked like a dying fish. Shadow smirked, walking into the base. Silver followed him, staring at the massive dent in the steel door as he walked with wide eyes. He looked at Shadow with a scared look. _Remind me NOT to get in his way._ Silver told himself. Sonic followed suit, eyes narrowed and ears folded murderously.

They got surprisingly far into the base without any resistance-not far, but (Considering Eggman's last bases) pretty far. They were finally met by a large blockade of robots, and a couple tanks. Sonic's eyes brightened and a smile flashed. THIS was his element. He ran forward, casting the words over his shoulder. "I call the tanks!" He stopped short and his face fell as a loud shout from Shadow blew up the three advancing tanks in a burst of Chaos. "SHAADOOOW! I called the tanks!" Sonic pouted, absentmindedly taking out a few dozen robots as he stared forlornly at the smoking wreckage that was left of the tanks after the Chaos Spear had ruined them. Sonic couldn't see it (probably a good thing, too) but a massive smirk crossed over Shadow's face as he took out another dozen robots with a Chaos Blast.

Silver watched from where the three hedgehogs had entered the room with wide eyes. He blinked a few times as he watched the carnage unfold, but he didn't do much; he wasn't certain it was his place to do so. His mind was winging its way back to his home, where it looked like this all the time. When he had first arrived here, he had been shocked by the sudden color change; his previous home had been dominated by greys, browns, blacks, and mainly reds; to the sudden change of blues and greens of all shades. He had been the outsider, unfamiliar with what was going on or why. Sonic had found him wandering the streets of a large city and taken an interest in him. Since, Sonic had been very kind to the time-traveling hedgehog, believing his tale when others wouldn't. It was so much nicer here, but he couldn't stay. Time would eventually catch up and destroy reality; such was the way time-travel worked.

"Silver? Hey, buddy?" Silver's mind was tugged back to his own body by Sonic's voice, from the hedgehog's worried face, he had been talking to Silver for a while. Silver blushed, pulling his mouth closer to his fluffy chest-fur to try and hide it. If Sonic noticed, he didn't acknowledge it. "You OK?" Sonic asked.

"Uh…Yea…Sorry. I was just thinking…" He trailed off, leaving _about my home_ silent, but Sonic seemed to understand.

Sonic's face was comforting, the kind an old friend would make. "It's cool. We all do it." Sonic said, then his usual demeanor returned. "So, want to keep going?" He asked the two other hedgehogs.

Shadow just nodded silently, adding what might've been a noise of assent or agreement. Silver replied with an enthusiastic: "Sure!"

Sonic grinned, giving them a thumbs-up. "Then shall we?" He asked before racing ahead through what was left of the robots. Shadow powered up his shoes, following at just a slightly slower pace. Silver followed a little slower, first looking at the sparking and smoking robots on the ground. _How could just two hedgehogs cause so much damage?_ He asked himself, his thoughts broken by Sonic's call. "Yo Silver! Coming?"

"Yea!" The silver hedgehog followed, using his telekinesis to shoot through the doorway where the two others had disappeared.

* * *

The line was: "I call the tanks!" I modified it slightly, but I still took it from Archie. I'm giving credit.

Yea. Hope you guys enjoyed, please review, and I'll take the information into account, promise.


	3. End the Onslaught

Here's chapter 3, Silver's starting to loosen up a bit.

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**Chapter 3: End the Onslaught**

The three oddly-colored animals continued through the fortress, coming across more robot-resistance, each closer together and stronger than the last. After the first few, Sonic had persuaded Silver to try it-while fist-fighting with a robot that was obviously modeled after a boxing champ. Silver had followed his advice, and found it rather fun and somewhat easy; his telekinesis useful for dismantling the robots bolt-by-bolt. By the last one, he was laughing along with Sonic as they destroyed wave after wave of robots. Sonic was certain that Shadow would have joined if it wasn't for his "reputation and image" to quote Shadow. Silver just shrugged it off, he was used to Shadow's behavior; it wasn't unusual for someone to act that way in Silver's time.

The three hedgehogs were panting heavily by the end of the last wave, Sonic heavier than the others due to the fact that he had to go head-to-head instead of having powers that did the job for him. When the three had gotten their breath back, they pressed on, becoming increasingly wary of the robot waves, attack after attack was starting to take its toll.

The three groaned as another swarm of robots made its way around the corner. The massive front wave was all tanks, as were a few rows behind it. "There's your tanks, faker." Shadow said, sending a half-hearted chaos spear into the midst of the robots. It didn't do much.

Sonic groaned, spin-dashing weakly against more of the robots. "You can have them, faker." Sonic replied, staggering as he hit the ground again after another spin-dash.

Silver grunted as he struggled to pry the robots apart with is powers. He gave an upset cry when he found he couldn't. He gave up and used his power in one last push to part a way for the three. "Get going! We can't fight them!" He yelled, his ears pressed flat against his head and sweat slicking down his fur as he struggled to hold that amount of robots.

The other two glanced at each other before Shadow sprinted down the lane Silver had created. Sonic cried out after him. "Aww! Come on! We can't just-"

Shadow cut him off. "GET DOWN HERE IDIOT!"

Sonic grunted, muttering some choice words under his breath as he sprinted down the lane. Silver followed suit, his powers failing to hold them after he was halfway through. He yelped as laser began firing over his head. He collapsed-exhausted but otherwise unharmed-when he reached the other two. He glared weakly up at them. "Remind me NOT to do that again." He said, letting his face hit the floor with a solid thunk, the quills on his head splayed out in all directions.

Sonic was lying on his back, he looked like he was about to make a snow angel. He raised one hand from where it was on the floor to give a weak thumbs-up. "You got it, bud." He let his hand flop heavily back to the ground.

Shadow was leaning heavily on the wall, apparently trying to keep whatever dignity he had left. "I vote," He said between pants, "We spend the night here. Who's gonna take first watch?" He added after hearty nods from the others.

"NOT IT!" All three Mobians said at the exact same time.

Shadow facepalmed. "Well SOMEONE has to do it." He said with a heavy sigh. "We're in Eggman's base, and we don't want to get caught napping."

Silver reluctantly raised his hand. "I'll do it. Who am I waking next?"

Shadow nodded, a rare smile gracing his face. "Thanks, Silver. You can wake me." He turned to Sonic. "And I'll wake you. Got it, faker?" Shadow paused, waiting for a response.

Silver poked the unmoving blue shape. "I think he's asleep." He said after a quick analysis.

Shadow ran a hand over his face, sighing. "Oh well, see you in a couple hours." He said, finding his own spot a ways away from the blue and silver shapes.

Silver sighed, glancing around at the stark grey walls. It was going to be a looooong night.

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There you have it, I was originally have Sonic persuading Silver to join in the fight while he was being thrown across the room, but...I don't know. I might still change it.

Hope you enjoyed, please review, I'll try to take it into account.


	4. Detours

Hey guys, sorry I was gone for a while. As an apology, I shall post another chapter shortly after this one. Also, don't hate on my treatment of Shadow and Sonic in this first section. I had to. And I think it's hilarious. This entire chapter is pretty funny. But please don't hate. I had my fun, and this is a Fan Comic. So I use my Author powers to do this. Deal with it.

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**Chapter 4: Detour**

The morning found two hedgehogs passed out on the floor, the black one snoring loudly. The last was sitting upright, green eyes glancing around intently. The other was curled up into a tight ball, five silver spines sticking out oddly from the otherwise circular shape.

Sonic sighed, leaning back, the spines that extended from his shoulders supporting him. He wanted Shadow and Silver to wake, but they needed to rest; Silver especially. It was thanks to him that they were able to sleep at all. Honestly, Sonic was surprised that Shadow DID sleep. The "Ultimate Lifeform" rarely ate, and Sonic had never seen him sleep. Sonic shrugged, returning to his task of watchman.

XXXX

It wasn't long after that when Shadow woke, only a half hour. He stretched from where he had lain on his back. Sonic put a hand over his mouth, struggling to hide a burst of laughter. Even then, he let out a loud snort, attracting the attention of the hedgehog with extreme bed-head. Sonic lost it. The combination of Shadow's sleepy look along with his splayed out quills made him look like a model for one of those NyQuil or ZzzQuil commercials he often saw on TV.

Shadow's sleepy look changed to one of utter confusion when he saw Sonic struggling to hide his mirth through his glove, even then loud snorts and bursts of laughter made its way out, not even the loud clanging as Sonic pounded his fist on the floor could hide them. "What?" The Ultimate Lifeform questioned, eyes narrowing dangerously.

Sonic managed to choke out a sentence between his loud laughs. "Look…at…your…reflection!" Sonic managed, then resumed banging his fist on the metal when Shadow did as he was told.

The black and red hedgehog's eyes widened as his reflection stared back at him; the six quills on his head splayed out in every direction, the two on his back looked like fins, sticking out on either side of his shoulders. The hedgehog flushed as red as he could through his black fur and he clamped his arms around his quills, struggling to keep them in check. Sonic had a hand over his mouth, trying not to wake the silver hedgehog beside him as he continued to giggle.

Shadow swore, glaring at the giggling hedgehog as he struggled to get his quills in check. "Sonic, if you breathe a word of this to ANYONE, you won't need to worry about Eggman finishing you off." He left the threat hanging, though Sonic obviously thought it needed a response.

"I never have worried about it."

The two speeding hedgehogs ended up racing around in circles, black chasing blue in a circle around silver.

XXXX

By the time Silver had woken up, Shadow had gotten his quills back under control and Sonic was nursing a bruised shoulder, Shadow must've gotten his revenge. Silver stretched out of the tight ball he was in, looking around at the two others. He blushed immediately. "OMYGOSH I am so sorry!" He said quickly, a guilty expression on his face. "I didn't mean to keep you guys waiting, why didn't you wake me?" He asked, standing up and stretching his legs.

Sonic shrugged, then blew through his teeth as his shoulder sang with pain. "You needed the rest, after you saved out hides yesterday." Silver blushed again, though this time with embarrassment.

Shadow nodded, his straight quills bouncing behind him. "Yea, we also need the extra time."

Sonic snickered, remembering the incident directly after Shadow had woken. If looks could kill, Shadow would have just murdered Sonic-though this only made him laugh harder.

Silver's face was blank, obviously slightly miffed at the missed inside joke. "So, where now?"

The faces of the two hedgehogs immediately cleared and the tension in the air visibly lessened. It was Sonic who answered. "I guess we go further in." He said, standing up.

Shadow nodded, removing his weight from wall to his on feet. "Well, let's keep going."

The three set off again, continuing at a rapid pace through the building, pausing only when Sonic's stomach rumbled loudly. He grinned, pulling off what looked like a sweat drop and rubbing the back of his head. "Eheh… I guess I haven't eaten since the day before yesterday…" That was when they had set out for Eggman; they weren't expecting it to take this long.

As if in agreement, Silver's rumbled, closely followed by Shadow's. Sonic laughed. "There's got to be a food storage area around here somewhere." He said, continuing down a hall.

"How do you know it's this way?" Shadow asked, pausing.

Sonic didn't look back as he answered. "I just have this feeling!"

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Great. We're relying on a feeling when we're starving."

"Yea. Pretty much." Sonic answered, Shadow groaned.

XXXX

As it turned out, Sonic's 'feeling' was actually accurate. They stumbled upon a large kitchen-no surprise for someone of Eggman's size-with robots milling around and creating dishes for later consumption. Sonic grinned smugly at Shadow, who only returned it with a death glare. Sonic took a step back, ready to spin-dash the robots to pieces. Shadow put a hand on his shoulder, restraining him. Shadow pointed to the robots, they hadn't noticed that there were three dangerous intruders among them.

"Wait." The black hedgehog said, using his free hand to point at what looked like a counter. "Let's see what happens…" He said, walking up the counter and taking a seat at one of the unreasonably large stools that where there. Sonic and Silver exchanged a glance before following his example. The robots didn't seem to notice-until Sonic rang a bell. Shadow shot him a glare as the robots swarmed around them.

"_What can we get you, sirs?_" One inquired-the metal apron around its waist had the Eggman Insignia painted in a bright red on it.

The three hedgehogs exchanged looks, then all three grinned. "What's on the menu?" Sonic spoke.

"_We have many different meals, sirs, but out special is fried meat._' The robot answered.

"What kind of meat?" Sonic answered warily, the other two wore similar looks.

"_Hedgehog._" The three gagged, Silver rushing to the other side of the room, his hands cupped over his mouth. Shadow put a hand over his stomach, turning slightly green under his black fur and poking his tongue out of his mouth. Sonic's face turned sky-blue and his eyes widened, his stomach churned uncomfortably.

"D-do you have any salads or something like that? Something _without _meat?" Sonic asked, the three weren't normally vegatarians, but-as of now-they didn't trust any meat that was handed to them. The robot nodded, snapping orders out to its companions. In no time, three heaping plates of salad were sitting in front of the hedgehogs. "Thanks!" Sonic said, and each carried their own plate to the other side of the room.

The three had almost regained their normal color by the time they finished their meal, Shadow still looked slightly green, sonic not quite back to his normal blue color and Silver a lot whiter than usual. "Now that that's over…" Shadow said, standing up, "Shall we continue?" He asked the other two.

They nodded, also standing. "Let's go." They rushed off, still intent on finding Eggman.

* * *

I considered making the hedgehog meat slightly different, with the cooks ending up pulling out very sharp cooking utensils and trying to go after the hedgies. But I liked this one more. Oh well.

Hope you enjoyed! Like always, please review and I'll take it into account.


	5. Arguments and Doors

Told you I'd upload a new one soon.

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**Chapter 5: Arguments and Doors**

A few massive robot VS Hedgehog battles, and still no sign of Eggman. "OK, seriously, where _IS_ he?" Sonic asked, throwing his hands up in exasperation as they came across yet another empty control room.

"Are you sure that he's here?" Silver asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Positive. I know he's here. I can feel-"

"Yea, like we're going to trust _that._ Last time you had a feeling, we ended up having the gross-out of our lives." Shadow interrupted, a cross look on his face. "Do you have any real proof he's here?"

Sonic opened and closed his mouth a few times, then looked away and his ears drooped. "No…"

"So what are we doing here? We should just go back up and let him attack us, then stop him." Shadow said, Silver nodding reluctantly behind him.

Sonic made a face of mock-horror. "You guys know we have to stop him, Rouge told us that he's planning on unleashing a massive weapon on us, and-once it's finished-there's no way we'll stop it. Plus, he might be the only one who can help us get Silver back to his own time." Sonic said.

Shadow scoffed. "You really think he'll help us?" He asked, critically.

Sonic made a face. "Well…um…"

"Thought so. The only way we'll get Silver back to his own time is on our own." Shadow snapped. Silver raised a hand and opened his mouth to speak, but Shadow swept on. "And are you really prepared to risk everything on that bat's word?" He asked, incredulous.

"Can I-" Silver tried to speak up.

Sonic made a face. "Oh, come on. You work with her, you should know she's trustworthy!"

"Guys, I-"

"And you know how gem-motivated she is! Just wave a jewel in front of her, and she'll do anything."

"Oh yea? Well, if you want to talk, Faker, then-"

"GUYS!" Silver nearly screamed. The two others looked at him, wide eyed. "Can't I have a say in this?" When no one responded, he kept talking. "Thank you. I would think that Eggman would help us, it would mean one less super-powered hedgehog trying to stop him." Sonic smirked, and Shadow nodded, reluctantly. "So, can we stay and look for him?" Silver asked hopefully. The other two exchanged glances-more like glares, really- then nodded, Sonic more enthusiastically than Shadow. "Then let's go."

XXXX

Another few robot battles later, the three found a massive door with a Eggman insignia painted on it, right down the middle. Sonic grinned, nudging Shadow roughly with his elbow. "You have a very boney elbow, you know that?"

Sonic ignored Shadow's comment. "This has got to be it. They all look the same. You'd think he'd learn." He scoffed.

The three hedgehogs grinned at each other-even Shadow- before taking a step forward at the same time.

Which meant that all three of them touched the electrified floor at the same time. The three stiffened, their eyes widening to an impossible size, the silence was deafening. Electricity crackled around their feet, keeping them effectively pinned. One last spell of silence, broken only by the noise of three hedgehogs hitting the ground, one after the other.

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They last paragraph was strangely hard to right for me. Don't know why. So if it's bad, that's why.

I'm so excited for the next chapter! I can't wait! It's hilarious.

Like always, hope you enjoyed and please review, I'm trying to get better. :)


	6. Awaken

Hehe. I couldn't wait. This one's awesome. I think it's a bit longer, too. Hope you enjoy they're confusion.

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**Chapter 6: Awaken**

Sonic sat up, groaning and rubbing his head. He hurt all over. "Ooh…Anybody get the number on that bus?" He grumbled, opening his eyes and glancing around.

_Huh. Shadow's gone. Weird._ There were still two shapes on the ground though. One was definitely Silver, but who was the blue guy? The only blue hedgehog Sonic knew of was_…Myself…_ The hero's eyes widened and slowly looked down at his hands. _These aren't my gloves…_ His eyes followed them up. _And those aren't my arms…_ Sonic's arms were peach, the ones he wore now were black with a red stripe running up the top. Eyes widened further and Sonic spun around, staring at his reflection in the metal.

He was looking at Shadow.

XXXX

Silver jolted upright, blinking sleep out of his eyes and staring around, trying to focus on Shadow who had screamed. Odd for him. The black hedgehog was staring at his hands with wide eyes, studying them from every angle like they were brand new.

"Shadow?" Silver stopped short at the sound of his voice. Too shcked to notice that Shadow didn't reply. His voice-normally so much younger and slightly deeper-was replaced by a lighter-yet somehow older-voice. His eyes shot to his hands. _These aren't mine!_ His mind screamed at him as he stared at the peach arms and plain white gloves. His eyes grew steadily wider as he slowly turned around to stare at his reflection.

The green eyes of Sonic stared back.

XXXX

Shadow sat bolt upright at the sound of…his own voice? He screwed up his eyes, staring at his own body across the room. His gaze darted to Sonic, who ad just shrieked loudly.

The blue hedgehog was staring at his reflection like he was staring at a ghost.

Shadow glanced down at his gloves, white with a neon blue power sign in his palm. He froze, staring at his now-silver arms.

After only a moment, he stood, glaring daggers at his body as he walked over to it. The owner of his body hadn't noticed yet. Shadow reached down, grabbing at the white fur on his body's chest and hoisting him into the air. The black and red form squirmed in his grasp, yelping in pain.

Personal experience had told him that was a tender spot. "Ow! Ow! Ow! What the heck Silver? Ow! That hurts, man!"

Shadow glared at his body, he figured it was Sonic. "Get. Out. Of. My. Body. Now."

Sonic stopped squirming for a moment, a confused expression on his face. Shadow's lip twitched, his body looked funny confused. "_Your_ body? Shadow?! That you?" Sonic asked, ignoring the pain in his chest.

"Yea. Now get out." Shadow hissed. It sounded funny in Silver's voice.

Sonic resumed squirming. "wish I could, but could you put me down now? When you get your body back, you're gonna be in a world of hurt because of this." The black hedgie reminded the silver one. Shadow immediately dropped him, thinking of how sore being held like that made him.

Silver swallowed, then turned to the two others. "Please tell me this is a dream."

Sonic made an apologetic face. "Sorry, but I don't think it is." He still wasn't used to hearing Shadow's voice every time he opened his mouth.

Silver sagged against the wall. "So…now what?" He asked, his now-green eyes wide and puzzled.

"We keep going."

"Shadow! Are you Nuts!?" Sonic asked, serious this time. "Look, I know I'm normally the optimist here, but (a) If you hadn't noticed, we are currently not in out own bodies. (b) We just got electrocuted. (c) We don't know how to use each other's powers. And (d), where the heck are we?" He counted off on his fingers, stating the question as he looked around.

The other two did the same, looking at the entirely steel room. "Um…Can't Sonic spin-dash us out easily?"

The now-black hedgehog scoffed. "I could, but-if you didn't notice-you are currently in my body, so you should be able to."

Silver flushed bright red, making his face look purple against his blue fur. Shadow snorted, coughing to cover up his laughter. "Well…Shadow could do it, couldn't he?" Silver asked, his nervous and uncertain expression odd on Sonic's face.

Sonic nodded thoughtfully. "I can try." He said, backing up to gain momentum. He ran forward, jumping into the tight ball like he usually did.

What _didn't_ usually happen was the loud clang and a dazed Sonic stumbling away, clutching the top of his head with crossed eyes.

Shadow snorted again. Sonic struggled to focus his crossed eyes on the now-silver hedgehog. "Don't get too cocky, faker, you're going to get your body back." He stuttered, his eyes refusing to uncross. Shadow's muffled laughs ended abruptly.

Silver coughed, drawing attention back to him. "You could show me…?" He asked, something between a question and a statement. Sonic blinked, then exchanged a glance with Shadow. "Might be hard in here. Not much space." Sonic said, Silver looked down, disheartened. "Hey." Silver looked up. "Don't worry, We'll get out of here and I'll teach you. We'll all teach each other." Sonic smiled kindly, not his usual cocky grin, but a genuine smile-however odd it looked on Shadow's face.

"How-exactly-do you plan on getting us out of here, faker?" Shadow asked, crossing his arms in his usual grumpy way.

Sonic smiled. "I have a plan."

Shadow groaned.

* * *

Well, hope you guys enjoyed. I had a ton of fun writing that. I think it's one of my best.

Like always, hope you enjoyed and please review! I love getting feedback, so keep it coming!

P.S. Wow! Glad you all like the story! Thanks for all the feedback too! I'll take it into account!


	7. Sneak Attack

I'm gonna be going out of town tomorrow, so I might not be able to post anything for a while. So here you go. It's small, but I wanted to give you something.

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**Chapter 7: Sneak Attack**

"Tell me again why you think this'll work." Shadow said-again.

Sonic groaned. "Shadow! I've gone over it ten times already!"

"Yes. And never once explained why it works."

Sonic sighed, running a hand over his face. "Because, they have to open the door at some point. And when they do, we tackle them and rush out. That make sense?" He asked, silently daring Shadow to ask again.

Shadow got the hint. "Yes. Now it does."

Silver's ears perked up. "Shh…" He whispered. The three immediately feel silent as Silver put his ear to the door. After a moment, "I hear them coming." He hissed.

Sonic nodded. "Get ready." In only a moment, the hedgehogs were hidden. Silver was hidden a few feet behind the door, Sonic was standing on the thick door frame above the door, and Shadow was standing against the wall a few feet away from the door-much like Silver.

The door creaked open. The hedgehogs held their breath, waiting for it to open further. A robot poked it's head through. Sonic leaned down over the edge of the door to stare at it. He grinned pleasantly. "Howdy!" The next-and final-thing the robot saw was a gloved fist. Sonic pulled his hand out of the massive hole he had left in the robot's face and waved to the others. "Don't just stand there! C'mon!" He yelled, jumping off the door frame and bounding into the hall.

The other two soon followed. "OK, now can we keep going?" Shadow asked, crossing his arms.

Sonic made a face. "We should probably head back out and figure out what happened. Tails might know how to fix this." He said, glancing around. "Anybody know which way to the exit?"

"You gotta think he has more than one entrance right?" Silver said.

Sonic shrugged. "All the ones I've been in-and that's a lot- only had one."

"Fire hazard much?"

Sonic laughed. "My thoughts exactly."

Shadow had been walking around during the short conversation, and he finally came back to the other two. "It looks like it's this way." He said, pointing down the right side of the corridor. "It slopes upward a tiny bit, and there's less robots."

Sonic groaned. "How are we gonna get past all of them? We can't fight like this!"

"I know subtlety isn't your specialty, faker, but we could always sneak around them." Shadow said, crossing his arms in a slightly condescending way. Silver snickered.

Sonic frowned-a face that actually looked normal on Shadow's face-and glared at Shadow. "Ha ha. You probably think you're funny don't you?"

Shadow smirked. "I do, actually."

Sonic smirked identically, and mimicked his voice. "I do, actually." Shadow glared at the black and red hedgehog. Sonic swept on, not allowing the grumpy hedgie to respond. "So, let's go that way, and hope we don't get spotted."

* * *

The first and last parts are my favorite.

If I can't post while I'm there, I'll have some stuff to post afterwards. Promise.

Hope you guys enjoyed, like always-please review. I love the feedback, so keep it coming!


	8. Out

Holy cow! I finally uploaded another one! OMG

Sorry guys, motivation died for a while, and it just came back.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Out**

Sonic glanced longingly at the robots again; especially the tanks. So far the hedgehogs were having no problem getting around the robots, trying to figure out how to work the powers between sneaking around.

Not much progress was made. Silver kept tripping over his feet when he tried running, Sonic's much longer legs odd for him. Shadow could get his hands to glow, but he couldn't pick anything up. When he tried, the glow sputtered out with an odd noise. Sonic had it easiest. He had figured out how to power on the rocket skates-as they were powered by Chaos energy, which Sonic was familiar with-but he was rather unsuccessful when trying to use them. He always ended up hitting the floor with his face, his legs at an awkward angle above his head.

But, Shadow did seem to be right about heading the right way. The robot swarms were getting smaller.

Sonic poked his head around a corner, only to flail his arms as he lost his balance and hid again. "What is it?" Silver asked.

"A huge swarm. The door's right there, but there's a ton of robots guarding it. Eggman must've guessed that we would be heading for the exit and sent reinforcements to make sure we didn't get away." He said, jerking a thumb at the robots around the corner. Both Silver and Shadow poked their heads around the corner, only to draw them back quickly as a robot's head swiveled around to look at their hiding place. "Any ideas, Shads?" Sonic asked. " 'Cuz something tells me we won't be able to sneak around these ones."

Shadow's brow was furrowed in thought, and he turned to the others. "We can't use our powers, but do we all know how to fight fist-to-fist?"

Sonic nodded, his eyes lighting up. "I prefer foot-to-face, but yes."

"Silver?"

The time-traveling hedgehog nodded. "I mostly use my powers, but yes." He said.

"Let's take a quick stop. Everyone tell each other what you specialize in; by that I mean what your body is most used to doing. I mostly use my legs, they're the strongest, but I can do almost anything." Sonic said, turning to Shadow.

"Anything works. I can do both, but don't get too reckless. My entire body doesn't move as fast as yours, Sonic, I only keep up with you because of the shoes." He said, indicating the odd shoes on Sonic's feet. "And we all know how well that works for you." Sonic rubbed his cheek ruefully as Shadow snickered.

"Mostly Fists for me, but-like Sonic-I can do either." Silver said.

Shadow nodded, and Sonic grinned-almost viciously. "Let's see how this works." He swung around the corner with a loud yell, swinging his leg in a roundhouse kick. He blinked in pleasant surprise when it felt the same as when he did it in his own body. He grinned, jumping around to boot through a robot's face. Shadow and Silver followed close behind Sonic, both swinging their fists with loud yells. The three hedgehogs created a huge amount of chaos, everyone fighting a slightly different style. Silver had to switch the most, from fists to legs was a big switch, but it worked well.

Soon, everyone was standing with their backs to the door, all three were panting slightly because of the unfamiliar fighting style, but were unharmed aside from a few bruises. Shadow turned to Sonic. "Kick the door down!" he yelled. Sonic nodded, grinning and swinging his leg in another roundhouse-it appeared to be a favorite-along with a blast from the shoe, knocking the door down with a heavy clang. The three ran down the tunnel of sand that Sonic had created on the way in, then skidded to a stop at the base of it, where it sloped directly upwards.

Silver turned to look at the pursuing robots. "Now what?" he yelled, his wide eyes odd on Sonic's face.

Sonic glared at the other two. "We're hedgehogs! Start digging!" he yelled, jumping into another spin-dash. This time, it cut easily through the sand, if not as easily as he would had he been in his own body.

Silver made a face as he followed Sonic through the tunnel he was plowing at a slowly uphill angle. "How come it works now?" He asked.

Sonic paused for a quick breather. "Shadow's spin-dash works generally the same as mine, but they're slightly different. I still need to get used to it, but it's much easier to practice on sand than a Chaos-knows how thick steel door!" he yelled, jumping into the tight spiral again and continuing to plow through the sand. He popped out with an odd yelp, then hit the sand when he came back down, on his face. The other two followed, turning to drop sand into the hole and block the exit.

Silver glanced around. "Well, we're out. But how are we supposed to get back any time soon?" He asked, glancing around the seemingly endless desert.

Sonic stood, his ears drooping. "Oh… That…um…is 'I have no idea' an appropriate answer? Ow! I'll take that as a 'no'…" He said, rubbing his arm where Shadow punched him.

Shadow looked around as well. "I guess we start walking." He said, starting off in a direction.

"Whoa, whoa! How do you know you're going the right way?" Sonic asked, standing in front of Shadow.

The silver hedgehog ran a hand over his face. "Because it's the exact same way that we came?" he asked, glaring at the hedgehog.

"Oh…yea…that'd be a good clue…" Sonic said, falling in step with Shadow, Silver on his other side.

* * *

Expect more funnies in the next chapter. It's almost finished, so expect the next chapter soon.

Like always, hope you enjoyed! And review if you did! I'm always open to feedback!


	9. Reunions

Told you I'd post the next one soon.

* * *

Sonic groaned, flopping onto the ground. "Geez, Shadow, how do you live in this black fur all the time?" He panted.

Shadow smirked over his shoulder. "I'm used to it, though-I must say-I do like Silver's white fur." He snickered.

Silver's worried face appeared in Sonic's view. "Could we maybe keep going?" He asked, his ears flattened slightly.

Sonic groaned, rolling over. "I don't do well in heat. Especially since I'm in Shadow's black fur." He hissed, his voice muffled by the sand around his mouth.

Shadow finally turned around, crossing his arms in annoyance. "If you want to get out of that fur, you better start moving you tail towards home." He hissed, the expression strange on Silver's face.

Sonic sat bolt upright, shooting in the direction they were heading. "Well? What're we waiting for!" He yelled.

Shadow rolled his eyes, following the hyperactive hedgehog. Silver glanced down at his feet with wide eyes. He glanced up, hurrying after the other two.

XXXX

Sonic finally grinned, flopping under a tree gratefully. "FINALLY! SHADE!" He yelled, sagging against the trunk. He ignored the shocked and confused looks of the other Mobians as they walked by. Shadow ran a hand over his face, sighing heavily.

"SOOOOOOOOONIIIIIIIIIIIC!" Silver jumped his height into the air with a loud yelp, slipping out of the grasp of the pink hedgehog. He landed with a shocked and started look behind Shadow, his ears flattened and his eyes massive. Amy's eyes betrayed her confusion and hurt. "What's wrong? I didn't hurt you, did I?" She asked, trying to hug him again. Silver yelped, scuttling behind the tree Sonic was leaning against. The black hedgehog was currently laughing loudly, slapping his hand against the tree, trying to catch his breath. Shadow just stood on with an impassive frown. Amy raised an eyebrow at the black hedgehog, who never laughed; much less this hard. She shrugged it off, turning to Silver. "What's wrong with Sonic?" She asked.

Shadow smirked, and Sonic's eyes widened. He ran a hand over his throat, a silencing gesture. "Him? He's fine. You just hugged Silver. Sonic's over there laughing his tail off." He jerked a thumb in the direction of the unhappy hero.

Amy's eyes were wide and she stared at Sonic-who was currently face-palming. "What?" She asked, not comprehending. Then she shrugged it off. "Oh, Sonic! I'm so happy you're OK!" She yelled, running forward to hug him.

He yelped, standing quickly and racing the other way. Shadow was snickering loudly, a massive smirk on his face. Sonic stopped to glare at Shadow, pointing a finger into the mass of fluff on the silver hedgehog's chest. "As soon as she stops chasing me, you're so dead, faker." He hissed, only to yelp and continue running as Amy closed in. Shadow ignored him, continuing to laugh.

XXXX

Sonic pulled the door open hurriedly, rushed inside, and slammed it. He leaned against the door, panting heavily and casting a wary glance out the window. He sighed in relief as Amy ran by. He turned back, to see a terrified Tails staring at him like he had just grown another head. Sonic sighed, smiling resignedly. "Hi, Tails."

The small fox yelped, rushing upstairs. "Tails! Wait!" The shifted hedgehog raced upstairs after his younger brother. He ducked, swinging backwards as something went sailing over his head. He raised an eyebrow at the small fox, who was currently trembling and leveling some sort of contraption at him.

"I-I s-swear, Sh-Shadow. I d-didn't do it." He stammered.

Sonic rushed his younger brother, pushing the contraption out of the way and pinning him to the ground. "Tails! Settle down! It's me! Sonic!" He yelled, bobbing his head in an attempt to dodge the fox's dual tails.

Tails finally sopped, staring at the pleading hedgehog. Sonic sat up, standing, and hoping the fox wouldn't try to attack him again. "Sonic?" The fox asked. "How did…?" he left the sentence hanging.

Sonic grinned apologetically. "I'm not too sure to be honest. All I know is that Shadow, Silver, and I switched bodies. I'm stuck in Shadow's, Shadow is stuck in Silver's, and Silver is stuck in mine." He said. "We woke up like this after getting a nasty shock at Eggman's base." He looked at his brother, pleadingly. "You got any ideas?" He asked.

The fox shook his head, thoroughly confused. "Sorry, Sonic. I have no idea." He said, then paused. "You say you guys got electrocuted and then woke up like this?" he said.

Sonic nodded, shuddering. "Yea. It was pretty strong, and not fun."

"We could try to reverse it by doing that again."

Sonic frowned and his eyes widened. He backed away. "As good of an idea that is, I'm not eager to try it."

Tails grinned apologetically. "Sorry, but it's all we got right now." Sonic groaned. "You still have a little bit of time. I need to build it." The switched hero sighed in relief. Tails laughed.

They both turned and glanced down the stairwell at the sound of a door. Sonic grinned, waving. "Shadow! Silver!" He yelled. "Up here!" Two heads turned towards Sonic's voice, then they both joined him at the top of the stairs.

"Anything?" Shadow asked, crossing his arms.

"Tails says we could try to reverse the effects by electrocuting ourselves all at the same time again." Sonic smiled happily.

In the background, Tails shuffled his feet. "Well when you say it like that…"

Silver's eyes widened. "Umm…Is there any other way?" He asked, worried.

"Not that I can think of." Tails said, stepping forward. "What about you guys?"

"No idea."

"Nope."

"Sorry…"

The fox sighed, his tails dropping. "Alright. I'll start building it, and we can hope it works." He said, walking towards his workshop.

The three watched him go, only to start as the door slammed open. Sonic face-palmed. "Seriously! How many people need to barge into my house!" he yelled.

"Shadow? Where are you?" The three poked their heads over the side of the railing, searching for the speaker. Sonic jumped and fell backwards as the face of Rouge suddenly jumped into his view. Rouge crossed her arms as she landed. "Why're you so jumpy?" She asked.

"Maybe because you just jumped out of nowhere into my face." Sonic snapped as he pushed himself up. "What are you doing in my house anyway?" He asked.

Rouge raised an eyebrow. "_Your_ house? Shadow, this is Sonic's house. Did you hit your head while stopping Eggman?"

The three hedgehogs clapped hands to their foreheads, all of them exclaiming at the same time: "Eggman!"

"What?" Rouge asked, thoroughly confused. "You _did _stop him, right?"

Sonic smiled apologetically. "Well…uh…um…"

Shadow stepped in. "Long-story-short, we got electrocuted, witched bodies, and totally forgot about Eggman."

Rouge's eyes widened. "So, Sonic is in Shadow's body, sounds like Shadow is in Silver's and that means that Silver is in Sonic's…" She shook her head. "So, no Eggman?"

"No Eggman." Sonic confirmed. "But Tails is building a machine that should switch us back, then we can go after him again." He said with a smile.

"And if the machine doesn't work?"

Sonic's face fell; he had been trying to avoid that question himself. "We'll still have to try."

* * *

Hope that was as fun for you guys to read as it was for me to write. I think it's funny.

Confusion. It makes any and all things funny.

Like always, hope you enjoyed, and review if you did!


	10. Chaos (of many forms)

OMG I finally updated it! Sorry this took so long. Last chapter we reached the point where I no longer had any pre-written chapters, so now I'm writing as I post. Sorry.

* * *

**Chapter 10: Chaos (Of many forms)**

_"While you wait for me to finish the machine, you guys could show each other how to use your powers, in case it doesn't work."_

_Brilliant idea, Tails._ Sonic thought as he fell on his face; for what might've been the twentieth time that day. _Juuuuust Brilliant._ He scowled as Shadow began yelling.

The hero pushed himself up, glaring at the yelling hedgehog. "Well pardon me! It's not my fault your shoes are so hard to use!" He snapped, growing increasingly frustrated as he wiped dirt off his face again.

Shadow ran a frustrated hand over his face. "Really Sonic. It's not that hard."

"Easy for you to say. You've been doing it all your life." He said, crossing his arms.

Shadow huffed. "Still, you just power them on, and then glide like you're skating on ice."

Sonic's eyes lit up. "Why didn't ya say so?" He jumped up, turning them on and taking a tentative step forward, then he shot forward, whooping happily. He skated in circles around the bewildered hedgehog, then came to an easy stop next to him. "You're right. It's not that hard." He grinned.

"Where's Silver?" Shadow asked, pointedly ignoring the proud hero.

"I think he's inside helping Tails because you were teaching me." Sonic said. "OK, that Chaos whatchamathing."

Shadow raised an unamused eyebrow. "Which one?"

"Erm….there's two?" Sonic said, confused.

"Yes, there's two." Shadow snapped. "I'm assuming you're talking about 'Chaos Spear.' The other one's called 'Chaos Blast.' 'Chaos Spear' is the one you've seen me use most often. 'Chaos Blast' uses a lot of energy and does a lot of damage." Sonic's eyes lit up. "But you have to take those off," He pointed at the rings around Sonic's wrists. "To do it. I would not recommend it. We'll just stick with Chaos Spear for now."

Sonic shrugged. "That's cool."

"Alright, focus the Chaos Energy into the palm of your hand, and only there."

Sonic closed his eyes and held his palm open and out. Shadow took a step away; Sonic had his palm facing towards him. Shadow crossed his arms as a smile flitted across Sonic's face, barely restraining himself from slapping the grin off the (not) concentrating hedgehog's face. "Take this seriously or I'll stop teaching." Shadow said with false calm.

Sonic immediately straightened up and his mouth twisted to one of actual concentration. He didn't show it, but the teacher was slightly surprised, the hedgehog actually looked like he was trying. Sonic let out a triumphant cry as a green flame formed in his hand, making Shadow jump slightly. He stared at it with wonder, then turned to Shadow. "This doesn't look like those things you throw…" He said, somewhere between a question and a statement.

"No duh, Sherlock." Shadow rolled his eyes. "That's a Chaos Flame. They don't really do anything except act as a light source, for show, and use energy."

Sonic was currently poking the flame tentatively, then-discovering that it wasn't hot- grinned, producing a few others and began juggling with them. He powered on the shoes and skated circles around the face-palming teacher. "This is really fun, Shads!" He grinned as he skated.

Shadow began tapping his foot irritably, then his ear began to twitch, then his ears flattened. His frown deepened slowly as the now-black hedgehog whooped as he juggled, very unfocused, Nothing new, in Shadow's opinion. The teacher's eyes snapped open and he exploded. "DO YOU WANT ME TO TEACH YOU OR NOT?!"

The sudden outburst sent the juggling hedgehog to the ground, shoes sputtering and Chaos Flames dying as they hit the ground. Sonic blinked in surprised confusion and stood, looking away, almost ashamed. "Sorry, Shads…" He muttered.

Shadow blinked, Sonic actually looked sorry. He hid it under a grump. "Hmph. Now, back to the Chaos Spear..."

Sonic actually focused for the rest of the session, managing to easily produce Chaos Spears by the end of the practice, though his aim was awful.

Shadow walked away, leaving Sonic to practice spin-dashes in his new body. He didn't need Shadow for that, he knew how to do them, he just needed to adjust to the new quill shape and speed.

Shadow jumped as a loud yell sounded behind him. "TIMMMMMMBEEEEEEEERRRR!" Not seconds later, a tree crashed down, a very proud Sonic perched in its branches. The hedgehog was standing on a lower branch, his hands resting on a higher one, giving him the appearance of standing on four legs. "Hey Shads!" He said happily. "I think I figured it out!" He grinned, and Shadow swore he saw Sonic's tail wagging. The now-silver hedgehog ran a hand over his face, appearing exasperated, but was-in reality- attempting to hide a smile and laugh at Sonic's over-excited expression and wagging tail.

"Good for you, faker." Shadow grumped, the normally teasing nickname incredibly accurate this time.

Sonic didn't seem fazed. "I know! It's awesome!" He whooped, shooting off in a spin dash, leaving an easily identifiable trail through the underbrush.

Shadow rolled his eyes and continued walking, searching for Silver.

* * *

Shadow, watch your temper.

Like always, hope you enjoyed and review if you did!


	11. It's no Use!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. WHOA. No, you are not hallucinating, this is not a dream, and it is not April Fools day. This is an update.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTT!?

No, it's true. I finally got around to getting back on this. Now, short chapter, but it's funny and I like it. Be happy there's an update, and hopefully the next one will come soon.

* * *

**Chapter 11: It's no use!**

"Tails! Silver! Where the heck are those two?" It was currently a predicament a certain silver hedgehog was having. He put his hand on his hips as he stepped inside the small house. "Seriously, how hard is it to find a two-tailed fox and a now-super-sonic hedgehog in a house this big?" Shadow grumbled, then turned as his ear twitched to the sound of sparks flying. He glanced down the stairwell.

He covered his face as he turned a corner, as sparks were flying everywhere, and the small room was roasting from the heat of the welder. "Silver!" The hedgehog called again, trying to catch the blue one's attention. "Hey! Silver!" No dice. "Dangit Silver!" He finally screeched, making Tails turn off the welder and the two of them lift there visors.

"Oh, Hi Sil-Shadow!" Tails quickly corrected himself. "What's up?"

Shadow grumped. "How's it coming?"

"It's coming along pretty fast, especially with Silver's help." Tails beamed.

Silver grinned sheepishly. "I'm starting to get a hang of this whole 'moving fast' thing." He said with a small smile.

Shadow nodded. "Great. Can you teach me how to use these powers of yours? Because they never work for me." He held out his hand and the palm started glow, only to sputter out with a strange noise. Shadow made a sound of disgust. "See?"

Silver laughed. "Yea. C'mon. I'll show you a few pointers." He took off the visor and turned to Tails. "Sorry, you got it from here?"

Tails nodded. "Yea. You were just holding it in place, that's easy." He giggled and flipped the visor down, leaving the two hedgehogs to clamber upstairs.

"Where's Sonic?"

"Probably decimating some forest with his new spin dash." Shadow grumped over the sound of the welder going behind them.

Silver smiled. "Wouldn't surprise me." They stepped outside, Silver eyeing the totally-obvious trail of destruction through the woods. "…Right…"

Shadow turned to face him. "So…"

Silver rubbed the back of his head. "Well…I've never explained it to anyone, nor had anyone explain it to me, so…this might not make much sense…heads up."

The silver of the two just shrugged. "Whatever works."

"Alright…so…um…let's see….Just focus your energy and mind on something. Let's try a pebble." He plucked a rock from the dirt at his feet, and held it out in the palm of his hand. "Try it."

Shadow wanted to glare at Silver. A rock. They were practicing with a rock. How bad did Silver think he was? He restrained himself as best he could and glared at the rock vehemently. He lifted a hand and glared at the rock. His palm glowed, but the rock didn't move; but, on the other hand-pardon the pun-the glow didn't sputter out. Shadow continued to glare at the rock, until the same blue glow surrounded it, and hovered slightly above Silver's glove. Shadow gave a slight smirk.

Silver smiled. "Good job!"

The silver hedgehog let the rock fall. "So, what next?"

Silver looked slightly embarrassed. "That's about it. Just keep practicing. He only other thing is flying. But it's the same basic principle, just focus on yourself. After a while you won't have to look at the object, just concentrate on it when you know it's there."

Shadow gave a slightly annoyed look. "Well, thanks."

Silver gave a slightly embarrassed smile. "No prob. I'm gonna go help Tails again." He hurried off, and tripped over his long legs. A muffled curse and he started walking again.

The sound of a buzz saw came, followed by a: "Heads up!" and a tree crashed down in front of the blue hedgehog. He stared-dumbfounded at the new obstacle; slightly stricken that it had almost hit him. A red-striped black face poked out of the branches, a few leaves sticking out of his quills, a smile on his face. "Sorry 'bout that. Yo Shads!"

The silver hedgehog grumbled, but turned. "What is it, Faker?"

"Think you can lift this tree out of the way? Silver could go around, but it needs to be moved at some point."

Shadow glared at him slightly. "Is that a challenge?"

Sonic gave a slight smirk. "Mehbeh."

Shadow growled and lifted a hand. His palm glowed brightly, and Sonic jumped out of the way as a cyan glow began to cover it. He stood back and off to the side as the tree slowly lifted off the ground, then eased itself back into the woods and off the path. Sonic gave a slight whistle. "_Whooo._ Nice one."

Shadow managed a smirk. "Doubted me?"

Sonic, sensing the danger, backed up slightly. "Nope, never. Not in a million, nuh uh. No doubt." Shadow grinned evilly, lifting a glowing hand. Sonic paled.

"It's no use!" Shadow called, grinning widely.

"Oh Chaos not that!" Sonic howled, powering on the skates and racing away. Too late. The black hedgehog yelped as he swept into the psychic grip. "Shadow, don't do it. Shadow, no, don't give me that look, Shadow don't-OH SH-" Whatever he was going to say was abruptly cut of as he plowed headfirst into the hollow of a tree. Shadow floated slightly off the ground, clutching his stomach and laughing hysterically at the sight of the black arms and legs struggling to pull their owner's head out of the tree.

A hollow, echoing voice came from it. "Shadow, I swear I'm gonna friggin kill you." But there was no malice in his voice, only the sound of grunts as he pushed at the tree and trying to pull his head out. It came free with a comical popping noise, and he landed on his tail. He turned, glaring, only for his attitude to vanish and a smile tugged at his lips as he saw the two hedgehogs rolling around, laughing. "Yea, alright I guess I sort of deserved that. So, Silver, since Shadow seems to know how to use his powers, why don't I teach you how to use mine."

"Alright."

* * *

Short as it was, I hope it was satisfactory. Hopefully next one will be out sooner than this one.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

I think.

Well, if you enjoyed, please review!


	12. Running Lessons

Another update! Woo! And only a month later! /Shot/

* * *

**Chapter 12: Running Lessons**  
"Alright. So...hmm...how am I gonna explain this..." Sonic mused, putting his head on his chin, crimson eyes pondering.  
The blue hedgehog in front of him shifted slightly, moving his weight from one leg to the other in an almost nervous fasion.  
Sonic shook his head. "Let's start this way. Have you tried it?"  
"Yea..." Silver answered, green eyes darting to his feet.  
Sonic grinned. "I'm guessing no luck?" He didn't wait for an answer. "What tripped you up?"  
"My feet."  
"What?" Sonic gave his boy a confused expression, which-while comical on its own-the effect was double on Shadow's normally serious face. Then it cleared and he smiled. Also strange on Shadow's face. "Hah, very funny. My legs are longer than yours, aren't they?"  
Silver nodded, nearly guilty. "Yea."  
Sonic grinned. "I can't really help you there. But I did promise to teach you how to spindash, didn't I?"  
Silver nodded, looking eager this time. Yea, you said there was enough space in the room."  
Sonic nodded, looking around. "Well, we got space here. And lots of it." then he turned a guilty smile. "Well, it might not be great instruction, as I'm still getting used to it in Shadow's body."  
Silver shrugged. "Best you can do, right?"  
Sonic gave his signature grin an thumbs-up. Though it looked strange on Shadow. "You're talkin to the fastest-erm..." He paused, looking at Silver with...envy? "Ah, second...second fastest thing alive." He ground the words out, a very accurate Shadow impression on his face, and Silver had the distinct impression it was difficult to say those words. He almost immediately shook it off-however- and the smile returned to his face. "I never do things half-heartedly." He answered breezily, turning and musing to himself again. "Now...back to the original question...how to teach it..." He looked at Silver with a slightly hopeful expression in his eyes. He then smiled. "How about I start by showing you in slow...ish...motion?" When Silver nodded, he-in very exaggerated motions-lifted his arms above his head, then brought them down quickly, tucked his head, and drew his legs up, bringing him to a tight spiral that rapidly grew faster, until a slight furrow was being dug into the ground by the fast spinning. Then the ball jumped into the air, where it uncurled and the dark hedgehog landed lightly. He had a slightly worried expression on his face. "Did that make any sense?"  
Silver looked at him curiously. "Sorta...?"  
Sonic gave an awkward smile. "Give it a shot?" He asked carefully.  
Silver nodded, slightly nervous. He followed Sonic's motions carefully, giving each careful thought. He landed on his head.  
Sonic stiffled a laugh. "You gotta do it faster."  
Silver flushed pink as he strightened up, then did it again, this time far faster. He dug a deep trench and uncurled in a large hole. Sonic looked over the edge, giggling. "Um...Moving helps..." Then he facepalmed. "Right, forgot to teach you how. You gotta just lean in the direction you want to go."  
Silver nodded, hauling himself out of the hole and tucking again, this time suceeding in an-while messy-full spindash. Sonic whopped and spun after him. They raced through the woods, chopping through the underbrush easily. Sonic won-through experience-and Sonic skidded to an uneasy stop at Shadow's feet. Yellow eyes looked down at him with contempt, the gaze only shifting as Silver slid next to him. Both offered awkward smiles and hasty farewells, Sonic calling over his shoulder to the blue hedgehog. "TRY OUT YOUR SPEED NOW, MAN!" He yelped, Silver hastily obeyed. They shot off in a trail of sparks and deep furrows. Sonic looked to his side, grinning hugely. "Dude! You're doing it!"  
Silver looked down at the red blur below him, and his face parted in a grin. "H-hey! I am!" He answered.  
The dark hedgehog next to him gave a challenging grin. "Race ya!" He sped up through the trees, scorch marks marking his trail.  
Silver gave a very Sonic-like grin. "You're on!" He called happily, speeding up. They two drew side by side, racing through the woods. Sonic eventually pulled ahead in time to pass the blue hedgehog next to him at the unoffical finish line that was the edge of the forest and went to an easy stop, while Silver slid to a stop on his back to stop next to the dark hedgehog.  
Sonic grinned. "I had to work on my stops and landings for a while, too. Only experience teaches that one, I discovered." He bent down, offering a heping hand.  
Silver took it with a smile, and stood, shaking dirt from his quills. "Anything else?"  
Sonic paused to think. "Not really...well, there's the firgure eight, but that's easy, and I can't demonstraight. You just move both your feet in a figure eight goig forward. Makes you ga faster, but takes q fair bit out of ya. And I-you-can move fast in about any way. Head, feet, arms, etc. That's it." He responded easily.  
Silver nodded, taking a moment to try out his speed by sending a few punches into thin air. He grinned. "Thanks, Sonic."  
The hedgehog smiled. "Any time. Race?"  
Silver shook his head, frowing at the dirt that came out. "I think I'm good." he answered.  
Sonic laughed. "Well, I'm gonna go see how Tails is doing." He answered, diving into another spindash and rocketing towards the house. His path was far straighter than it had been before, and the cuts far cleaner.

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It's shorter than I want it to be. Rats. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed, and review if you did!


	13. Test Run

FINALLY uploaded a new one.

Sorry, guys. My motivation has been absolutely horrible lately, so this is a short chapter. Uhg. Sorry.

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**Chapter 13: Test Run**

"Tails? Lil' Bro?"

"Over here, Sha-Sonic."

The dark hedgehog followed the fox's voice, ducking under hanging gadgets, twisting around in-progress inventions, and stepping over bundles of wires until he reached the fox, who was on his back, connecting wires.

The hedgehog crossed his arms and smirked. An incredibly accurate Shadow impression. "I swear, this thing is bigger on the inside than on the outside." He remarked as he looked around.

The kid genius giggled and scrambled out from under the machine. "I only put a lot of stuff in here. And might've expanded around a little bit. This is the basement, after all." he said, smirking.

Sonic nodded. "Touche." As always, the attention span died remarkably quickly. "How's it coming?"

The fox grinned. "Almost done. It wasn't too hard." He added after getting a shocked look from the transformed hero. "It's just a big electrical outlet. Nothing too fancy." He said, shrugging.

Sonic looked at the machine dubiously. It was about his height and suspended on a short rolling table, allowing Tails to get under and attach wires. The hedgehog assumed that it was also for mobility, but not necessary. It was roughly dome shaped, but three bare metal prongs stuck out from the roughly top of it. Sonic's ears flattened slightly and he made a face.

Tails caught the meaning an gave the hedgehog an apologetic look. "I know. Not fun."

Sonic glared at him half-heartedly, slightly nervous. "You're not the one it's being used on." Contrary to what many people believed-including the person whose body he was borrowing-the hedgehog did not enjoy getting hurt. Yea, he loved action. Yea, he loved adventure. Yea, you could probably call him an adrenaline junky.

But he wasn't fond of getting hurt.

It just happened a lot.

Tails looked at the hedgehog, worried. Everything screamed discomfort. He had his arms firmly crossed, the fingers digging into the fur on his arms. His ears were-for the most part-back, though they would sometimes twitch. He stood up ridiculously straight and he seemed tense. His eyes were narrowed and his brow furrowed in worry, while his mouth was only a thin line on his face. The fox leaned against him-slightly hesitant, because though he knew it was Sonic, the survival part of his brain told him that this act to Shadow would earn some form of beating, even if it was only a slap or something less. The hedgehog stiffened slightly as a result of the unexpected action, but a smile quickly took over, and he put his arm around the fox's shoulder.

After a moment, Sonic looked at the machine. "C'mon. I'll help you wheel this thing up and outside. I don't think you wanna have it on next to all your stuff." He said, stepping over and grabbing a side of the cart.

He and the fox managed to maneuver the cart through the maze of stuff and reached the stairs, where the dark hedgehog-using the strength he knew Shadow had-picked up the machine and allowed Tails to pick up the cart and scurry past him to the top of the stairs, where Sonic met him and set the machine back on the cart gently.

Tails gave him a look. "Why didn't we ask Shadow for help?"

The hedgehog quickly sank to the floor, face down, groaning.

XXX

Outside, the other two hedgehogs were both practicing using their powers. Silver was getting better at his stops, falling on his tail only four out of seven times.

Shadow was quickly getting the hang of using his new powers for multiple things-namely flying/floating-and was now attempting more fine-motor skills like pulling grass and sorting rocks. he had quickly learned that the larger the object, the more effort it took to move. The more objects, the more effort. The longer you hold it-specifically for large items-the more effort it took. Much like only when moving things under your own muscles.

Two sets f ears twitched as the sound of squeaky wheels over pavement sounded. Silver slid to a stop-remaining on hs feet-and Shadow dropped his rocks and dropped to the ground. Both hedgehogs strode over to the gravel, but paused when they saw the contraption they where weeling.

Sonic quickly noticed his own discomfort reflected on the faces of the other two hedgehogs. A quick glance revealed that Tails' feelings were much the same.  
All three hedgehogs were ridiculously tense and twitchy, and Tails just looked uncertain.

None looked overly eager for what was happening next.

Silver crossed his arms. "Are we sure this is a great idea?" He asked tentatively.

Sonic and Shadow exchanged looks, before both turned to Tails.

The fox had just attached the machine to the power cord he had bought with him, when he caught three uncertain hedgehog gazes trained on him. He sighed. "Do you want to get back into your own bodies?"

Sonic stepped forward, and spokes-personed for the group. "Well, yea. But this..." He trailed off uncertainly. Then looked at the fox, suddenly very un-Sonic or Shadow like. "...What if it doesn't work?" He finished quietly.

Tails gave him a look. "I don't know. But we'll at least have tried." He said, before switching the flip up. The machine hummed to life, and the three prongs sparked with electricity.

Sonic's ears flattened. "For once I'm jumping into an electric pit." He mumbled.

Shadow snorted. "What? You've jumped into one before."

Sonic looked over. "No, actually, I haven't." He said, slightly worried. "Contrary to what you think, I don't like getting hurt."

Shadow's face registered slight surprise, but he looked away. "If you say so."

Sonic shook himself. "Alright, we have to touch it at the same time. Just grab it on three. You can't hesitate, or it won't work." He said, trying to steel himself. "Alright. One." He and the other two held their hands above the sparking rods. "Two." Ears flattened. "Three." At the same time, everyone grabbed the respective metal prongs, and shrieks rent the air as lights in his house blew out. A second later, the hedgehog reeled back, and collapsed to the ground as everything went dark spinning.

XXX

"Shadow?" The fuzzy voice made its way into his ear, and the hedgehog groaned. He blinked open his eyes fuzzily and forced them to focus on the white shape above him. It slowly went into focus, and he found Rouge looking down at him, worriedly. "Shadow?" She repeated. "We came over when we heard all the screaming. Please tell me this is Shadow." The dark hedgehog pushed himself up, pulling his head out of the bat's lap and looked around, his ears still ringing at the electricity. He looked around blurrily. Omega was helping the silver hedgehog to his feet, while Tails was trying to push the blue into a shaky standing position.

His spirits sank to his feet. "It didn't work." He whispered hoarsely.

Rouge looked at him strangely, before her eyes widened and ears lowered. "Sonic?"

The dark hedgehog turned stiffly and nodded.

Rouge looked over at the Silver hedgehog, who was having trouble standing, and eventually comforted himself with the ground, snapping at Omega when the robot kept trying to help him up.

Tails had stopped helping the hedgehog in front of him when he realized it didn't work-and when the blue hedgehog couldn't stay standing. The three hedgehogs were all in nearly identical positions, downhearted faces, fallen ears, arms hugging their knees close to their chest. Sonic looked around and got the same disheartened look as the others. He buried his face in his knees. "It didn't work."

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Yea...

Sad one...

Oh well...

Hopefully the next one comes out faster. Hope you enjoyed, and review if you did!


	14. Tension Rising

Because it's not going to be explicitly said in the story, here's why Tails' invention didn't work.

When they switched bodies in the first place, they got electrocuted at the same time, which started the switch. Then they STAYED on the electrified floor after passing out, giving the switch time to happen.

Scientifically accurate? No. But then again, this is a story involving a blue supersonic anthropomorphic hedgehog. Screw science.

Anyway, hope this is a good chapter! Tried to make it somewhat make up for the sadness in the last one.

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**Review Replies:** Yea, I'm doing it. I'll do it for people with accounts and without accounts, but I'll only do the reviews for the last chapter. Sorry for not replying to earlier ones.

**The WhiteMouthCat:** Yea, I'm sorry. XD And here's more for you. :P And your reason is seen above.

**ABCSonicKirbyWarriors:** It has? Huh. Didn't know that. Oh well, I guess that makes my writing good? *is happy and confused at the same time* And here you are!

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**Chapter 14: Tension Rising**

The dark hedgehog slowly made his way to shaky feet, with serious help from Rouge when his legs refused to cooperate with his wishes.

He managed to stay standing with frequent bursts of his rocket shoes to stabilize himself, while Shadow ended up using his powers to levitate in a position that implied he was standing. If it wasn't for his teal aura and the fact that he was slightly off the ground. Silver had it hardest with no powers to stabilize his long shaky legs, but eventually managed to stand. No one could remember hearing Sonic sound so forlorn, despite being in Shadow's body. "It didn't work."

Tails shook his head, giving all three downcast hedgehogs sad looks. "Why didn't it work?" He cried to no one in particular, while Rouge and Omega looked at the contraption-which someone must've shut off after all three hedgehogs collapsed-and guessed what it was for.

The white bat sighed. "Looks like you're stuck like this."

Shadow snarled angrily at her. "I wasn't planning to spend the rest of my life in a body that relies on mind powers to fight!"

Silver immediately went on the defensive, and...sorta offensive. "Pardon me for needing powers to fight creatures you can't punch because, what was it, oh yea, THEY'RE MADE OF LAVA! At least you still have powers that can do long-range hits!"

Sonic whirled. "HEY! This isn't easy for me either! I take pride on being the fastest thing alive and the person people can go to to be cheered up, and now, because of your reputation as a heartless jerk," He snarled, pointing at the silver hedgehog. "I get terrified looks instead of hopeful ones!"

The three immediately burst into arguments, going around in a circle of insults and defensive phrases.

Tails' ears flattened at how quickly they had managed to break out into fighting, while Rouge looked only mildly surprised. After all, there were two biggest hotheads on Mobius involved. They could suck anyone into an argument if they wanted to.

Omega did nothing, only processing insults and storing them in data bank for later use against machines.

The fighting continued, until Rouge's ears began twitching and her nose began folding into a distasteful grimace as her eyes narrowed. The three hedgehogs were all up in each other's faces at this point, and she wouldn't be surprised if their noses were touching. They were all still yelling, and their ears were flattened as they glared at each other.

When Shadow threw the first punch. Literally. He had used his new powers to add power to his punch, and the resulting force sent Sonic reeling backwards into his own body, and both tumbled to the ground. Sonic was the first on his feet, and charged the Silver hedgehog. "Oh, wanna tussle, Tough Guy?" He snarled loudly, and the two rivals went down hard as Sonic slammed into Shadow, while Silver-normally not one to get involved-struggled to separate them, suddenly aware that this had gone too far.

He ended up with a foot to the face from Shadow. He sat back, rubbing his cheek dejectedly, when Rouge stepped forward, dragging Tails with her. She whispered something in each of their ears, and both gave her scared looks. She rolled her eyes. "Tails, Shadow's chest fur is ridiculously sensitive. Tug on it to slow him down. Silver, I'm assuming you know your own Achilles heel?"

The blue hedgehog flushed brightly, but nodded.

The two-tailed fox and blue hedgehog lunged. The fighting didn't stop immediately, but it was very clear that the separators were winning when Sonic shrieked loudly as Tails snagged a chunk of the pure white fur on his chest and yanked him backwards, while the blue hedgehog was tugging furiously on the middle quill of the silver's forehead, leading to loud curses, but the two hedgehogs were eventually separated huffing and glaring at each other. Rouge stepped between them and put her hands on her hips. Shadow groaned. He knew what was coming.

And the bat exploded. "WHAT ARE YOU TWO, CHILDREN?!" She snapped, glaring at them Sonic looked shocked by the sudden outburst, but Shadow only rolled his eyes. "I honestly can't say I'm surprised that you two thick-headed idiots started fighting, but now? When Eggman has some sort of super weapon to fire and you three switched bodies?" She paused, glaring at them. "I know you two hate each other's guts, but now is not the time to settle this." She hissed. "Sonic, you are a world-renowned hero, and you're fighting over a few insults?"

Sonic's ears flattened and he muttered dejectedly. "He started it..." The statement was said with such a ridiculous similarity to that of a young child, that Rouge couldn't help but stare at him for a moment, during which Sonic's tan cheeks turned a quite nice shade of pink when he realized what he head said, earning a snort from Shadow.

The bat whirled on him at this, and he quailed slightly. Rouge was definitely the only one who could intimidate him like that, and he wasn't sure why. "And you're a spy for the largest government agency on earth, and you got riled by a few insults?" There we go. That's the reason.

Shadow's ears flattened and he looked away, almost completely mirroring Sonic's pose, minus the black hedgehog's flushed cheeks.

There was complete silence, and when rouge spoke again, her voice had softened considerably. "I can understand that this is weird-even for you, Sonic, and you've seen some strange things-but right now isn't the time to be beating on each other." She looked pointedly at the black eye Sonic was slowly developing, and the multiple bruises that shone brightly through Shadow's fur, which she suspected Sonic had as well, but weren't nearly as visible. She crossed her arms. "You can finish your fight once we get this figured out, but-for the moment-you two need to calm the frick down and think about something other that what's at the tip of your pointy noises."

At this, both hedgehogs crossed their eyes in almost perfect unison. Sonic uncrossed his and whined. "My nose is pointy." The sound and phrase was so strange coming from Shadow's body, that immediate silence met it, until Tails broke into hysterical laughter, closely followed by poorly suppressed giggles from Rouge, and slightly better suppressed ones from Silver.

Sonic grinned through one partially closed eye, the other appeared to be functioning fine though, and giggled. He froze at the noise, before breaking into hysterical laughter, taking both him and the fox to the ground when his legs wouldn't support him. Silver let go of Shadow, trying to figure out what was so funny.

Shadow had a much more straight forward way of dealing with questions. "What's so funny?"

Sonic managed to answer after his laughter died to frantic giggled. "Well, now we know what your laugh sounds like."

The now almost-white hedgehog flushed crimson, showing easily through white fur, causing Sonic to bust into another bout of hysterical laughs. Now he knew what Shadow's laugh sounded like, and what Silver looked like blushing.

The blue hedgehog came up to see what was so funny, took one look at his original face and flushed.

Sonic couldn't help but laugh at his own face. He managed to ask through laughs. "So...when I...blush...I turn...PURPLE?!" He was starting to have trouble breathing. He didn't know he turned purple when he blushed. He never looked in a mirror at that time.

Tails tilted his head. He had seen his brother turn purple many times, and it was always funny, but he had gotten used to it somewhat. "It makes sense. our blue fur plus red skin would make purple. We wouldn't be able to see it in Shadow's face because his fur is so dark, but it's super obvious on Silver.

Sonic's laughs had settled into giggles and snorts, which made him giggle harder, and it ended up as a rather long spiral, until he finally settled into happy silence. The red had faded from the people around him almost completely, but the bruise on Silver's cheek, all over Shadow, and Sonic's black eye had faded into view, and all three had some black spot or another. Or-in Sonic's case-lots of them.

Tails-noticing this-went inside and came back with a bunch of ice packs. He passed one to both Sonic and Silver, and let Shadow decide how many he wanted.

He tilted his head. "You own a lot of ice packs." He commented, setting one on his knee.

Sonic grinned from under the ice pack he was holding to his eye. "Yea. I'm not sure why you sound surprised. I live with him."

Shadow nodded. Not much you could argue against that.

Rouge-seeming to be satisfied by the truce that had been unofficially called-smiled slightly and opened her mouth, then paused as Omega beat her to it. "Query: What does 'thick-headed black knockoff' mean?" Silence met him. "I am storing insults for later use."

This was met by loud howls of laughter coming from the group, and even Shadow joined in with the laughter, though not nearly as loud as his "thick-headed black knockoff."

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Hope that made up for the sadness. If you enjoyed, please review!

I dun own any of these insane creatures.


	15. Realizations

ANOTHER ONE!

In a reasonably amount of time!

OMG.

In this one, you get to know my personal world that Sonic lives in, with a few headcanons. :) Hope it makes sense, so enjoy!

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**Review Replies**

**ABCSonicKirbyWarriors:** Very much laughter. The awkwardness is what is driving this story. XD As is Sonic's use of finding out Shadow's secrets. C:

**Shiego627:** I laughed when writing it too! And here's your update!

**Guest:** :) Glad you enjoyed!

**CatGirlFireflare:** :) Thanks! Rouge is sorta hard to write for, but it sounds like I did alright with her!

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**Chapter 15: Realizations**

"OK, seriously, now what?" Sonic asked after the laughter had died reasonably, and he was now looking around with one open eye, the other covered by a cold ice pack.

Silver tipped his head. "I suppose we should just keep figuring out how to use eachother's powers." He answered.

The black hedgehog opened his mouth, when sirens began blaring. Shadow gave him a strange look. "You have police alarms at your house?"

Sonic grinned. "When you're hero of Mobius, you have a lot of money. And besides, what happens if he attacks when I'm asleep?" He answered, standing to go into his house.

Shadow stood after him with a raised eyebrow. "Wait, you're rich?"

Sonic grinned awkwardly and looked back. "Well, yea." He answered, and opened a cabinet to look at a monitor. "I don't talk about it much because I never use it-most of it goes to a charity as an anonymous donor-but I still have quite a bit." He answered, pressing a few buttons.

Shadow was too busy trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Sonic was loaded to make a comment about his ability to use machines without breaking them. or his ability to use them at all. "Why do you live in this little thing then?"

Sonic shrugged as he finally pulled up what he was looking for. "I like it. I hardly spend any time here at all anyways, so why would I need a big house?" He asked, tipping his head. He actually looked genuinely puzzled.

"What do you use it for? And how much do you have now?"

The darker hedgehog shrugged again. "Mostly for food and stuff for Tails. As for how much? I dunno. There's prolly several million rings in my account right now, but I only carry about two hundred with me at any time." He answered as he started walking out. "Thanks for reminding me, I need to donate some more." He said, grinning.

Shadow didn't seem amused. "You just give it away?"

"Yup."

"Where do you get it?"

"Well, you can just find rings laying around if you look, but otherwise there's all sorts of people who make toys, video games, all sorts of stuff." He said. "Where'd you think I got it?"

Shadow frowned. "I never thought about it. You don't seem like you'd be rich."

Sonic shrugged. "I don't consider myself rich. That implies you spend it all on yourself and you gloat about it. Well off would be a better term." He smiled genuinely. "Now, enough about me, let's go scramble some eggs." he said the last sentence out loud when they had reached the others.

Silver nodded and stood. "Where is he?"

"Downtown Station Square." The dark hedgehog answered. "I swear, he targets that place." He grumbled, then turned to Rouge and Omega. "You guys coming?"

"We'll pass." The bat answered. "I need to go tell G.U.N. that Shadow'll be taking a mandatory leave of absence." She opened her wings to take off. "Come on, Omega." She turned to leave, the robot following her.

Sonic looked down. "What about you, Lil' Bro?"

The fox shook his head. "I'll stay here and try and figure out how to change you back." His face lit up. "Oh! Wait here!" He aid, and shot into the house, only to appear a minute later. He landed and held his hands open. "Now that you can use Shadow's Chaos Powers, you might want this." He said, and held out a brilliant blue gem.

Sonic grinned. "Thanks Lil' bro!" His hand closed around the gem, and he staggered backwards, his head reeling by the sudden amount of energy that flooded him. He'd used Chaos Emeralds and held them in his own body before, and they gave off a ton of energy, but this was different. It was like Shadow's body sucked it in, and the emerald was eagerly feeding the energy to him, and the amount of pressure the flood was putting on his body was like nothing he'd ever felt. He shook his head again and looked around, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that this is what Shadow felt every time he held one.

Tails and Silver were giving him worried and confused looks, while Shadow only wore a knowing smirk. "Chaos, Shadz, is that normal?" He asked, still trying to force the energy away and make it less distracting. It wasn't working.

The silver hedgehog answered smoothly. "Is what normal?"

Sonic glared at him halfheartedly. _He's trying to make me beg him for it._ He grumbled to himself, but gave in. He need the information. "That flood of Chaos Energy when you hold an emerald."

That smirk was still there. "I thought you were used to that?" He practically cooed.

"Shadow, seriously! This is way more than I'm used to!" Sonic snapped, and considered dropping the gem.

Shadow sighed and finally relented into telling him. "My body relies on Chaos Energy to survive. That's why I don't have to eat, sleep, or drink nearly as often as most. What you're feeling is the amount of Chaos Energy I can store at once. It peaks when I hold an emerald, but you're used to that. The way my body works when I hold an emerald is double time, so the rush of energy is my body using it at a ridiculous rate because there's so much. So there's constantly new energy flowing through you. Does that describe it?" Sonic nodded mutely, still trying to get the flood under control. "You can't stop it, but if you use the energy the pressure will lessen because there's never as much. There's still a lot-probably still a lot more than you're used to-but there won't be as much pressure."

Sonic took his advice and the jets on his shoes flared to life, and-like Shadow had said-the pressure dropped considerably, but the amount was still staggering. He knew there was a nearly limitless amount of energy stored in the gems, but he didn't know Shadow stored nearly as much.

He grinned, finally able to think clearly again. "Then let's go crack some Eggman!" he whirled, and shot towards station square. He could hear Silver keeping pace with him, but not Shadow, though he was certain he was there. Some part of him was unconsciously using the heightened Chaos radar in his head, and could feel two strong energy signatures near him, as well as his own spiked one._ Another thing I never knew about Shadow._ He thought to himself, wondering what else Shadow's body could do that his couldn't. He shook himself, his speed was carrying him closer the robots as he ducked and dodged around cars. _I'll have to ask him how to use this Radar thing._ He told himself, starting to get scrambled by the amount of different signatures so close to him now that he was in the city. He slid to a stop and turned off the shoes as he reached the robot. The pressure immediately increased again, and his head started spinning again, a headache building. He looked over as Silver slid to a stop next to him-staying on his feet-and Shadow landed lightly next to him.

He grinned and called loudly. "YO! 'BUTTNIK!"

The robot turned and stopped demolishing the city, and a loud voice came from speakers somewhere in its head. "Wha-Sonic?! You're supposed to be captured!" The voice snarled.

The addressed hedgehog grinned widely and jerked a thumb in the silver hedgehog's direction. "Well, if you count being trapped in Faker's body, then yes. You're correct." He said, crossing his arms and putting his weight on his heels, leaning back, smirking widely.

"I was talking to Sonic, Sha-" Eggman broke off as 300 IQ points processed what he had said. "So, Sonic," the sudden change in tone made the formerly-blue hedgehog shiver. Eggman was so bad at acting sweet, it was the scariest thing he'd ever done. "What's it like being the second fastest thing alive?" Sonic's smirk dissolved into a scowl, and he actually looked like Shadow. That was a sore spot Eggman was poking. "Having to be seen as the emo hedgehog?" Shadow growled next to him, and Sonic's scowl deepened. "Having to depend on Robotnik technology to run as fast as you can?" The scowl turned into a snarl, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. "And-being Gerald's creation-you are almost family to me. We're related now."

The dark hedgehog snarled loudly, and shot forward, before launching into a spindash. "We're not related!" He spat, and slammed into the machine's arm, denting it before rebounding off it and landing again.

Silver and Shadow had taken that as a que, and had started attacking as well. Shadow was throwing cars, and Silver was spindashing heavily against it's chest. Eggman continued talking. "But we are, whether you like it or not, we're related. Cousins even. Closely related." The dark hedgehog launched into another spindash, and tore a hole through one of the arms, exposing wires.

Eggman continued to taunt the hero, even as his armor was beaten and destroyed. "Are you ashamed, hedgehog? Ashamed that you're so closely related to the one you fight so hard to stop? Ashamed at what you're relatives-you-have done?"

Sonic's eyes were blazing, and his grip tightened around the emerald. He snarled loudly. "I'm not ashamed of anything!" The emerald shone brightly as he lunged, throwing a Chaos Spear a the robot's head, before spindashing after.

Before he hit the metal, he shrieked loudly as an arm slammed into him, sending him back to the ground and heavily into a car, the emerald flying from his grip. He gasped loudly as the pressure and energy was suddenly gone, and the realization hit him that the emerald was fair game. He pushed himself out of the wreckage of the car, to grab the emerald, when a fist slammed heavily into him, pushing him back into the car, and made his head spin. It cleared in time to see a foot descending to crush him. The dent he had made in the car made it impossible to roll out of the way, and he couldn't get out of the way fast enough. So he did the only thing he could think of and held his hands out to try and push it away, closing his eyes.

The strain the sudden weight the foot put on his arms was immediate, but he wasn't dead. He opened his eyes, shocked to find the foot suspended above him, and he was the one holding it up. He groaned, pushing against the foot. Eggman didn't want the emerald. He wanted him dead. Oddly enough, the strain wasn't focused on his arms, but his shoulders. The pressure was immense, and he wasn't sure how long he could hold it up. He could head Shadow and Silver yelling something indistinctly above him, maybe calling his name?

He managed to call back. "I'm still alive! Get the emerald!" He called, then groaned as the weight increased, pushing on him harder. He figured the robot was likely shifting its weight forward upon finding he was still alive.

Silver's voice broke in. "I have the emerald!"

Sonic answered through pants. He wasn't sure he could hold it much longer. "Shadow! Get the damn thing offa me!" He shrieked, starting to panic when his arms began to give out, and the foot began to get closer to his head and face.

The weight was suddenly, gone, and the robot stumbled backwards. Shadow landed, breathing heavily with the effort it had taken to lift the robot. Sonic pushed himself weakly out of the car, his arms and shoulders burning. Silver sped up next to him, and held the emerald out. Sonic offered him a pained smile and took it, his breathing slowing as the energy tore through him again, and he straightened. His arms still hurt, but he could fight. He looked over to the silver hedgehog. "Yo! Shadz! You need this for a second?" He tossed the blue gem towards him, and Shadow caught it deftly, looking down at it in slight shock. Sonic smiled. If Silver wasn't overwhelmed by the emerald when he'd handed it to Sonic, then they obviously had the same-or pretty close to the same-ability to take in energy from the emerald. He grinned and called to the white hedgehog again. "Now you know how I feel when I hold it!" He called, grinning.

Shadow gave a wry smile, and tossed it back. Sonic caught it easily, and turned back to the robot, which had recovered. "Alright then, Egghead, you wanna play rough?" He grinned wickedly, twisting the rings around his wrists. They fell to the ground with a clatter. The amount of energy rushing through him almost immediately doubled, and he forced himself to ignore it somewhat. "Let's play rough."

Shadow understood perfectly, and looked over at Silver, who tossed him a curious look. Shadow didn't explain, and instead hefted Silver to a safe vantage point he knew was far enough away, leaving the dark hedgehog alone with t he robot.

Sonic grinned viciously, and gripped the emerald harder. The robot lunged in an obvious attempt to stop him before he started. But he Sonic was the second fastest thing alive. It didn't stand a chance.

"CHAOS BLAST!"

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Have some headcanons of mine. :)

Oh, and I'm aware that Sonic wouldn't normally be that easily goaded into stuff like that, but if you read closely, there's just stuff piling on that makes him a tad clueless and easy to goad into attacking. :)

Oh, and if you wouldn't mind, there's a poll on my profile I'd like some votes on. :)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and review if you did!


	16. So much Damage

Welp. This was a fun one two write. My updating style is gonna change a little bit based on what you guys said int he poll. Update whenever I get the chance. So when I write a story, it gets updated. I'll try to keep it nice and well rounded so I don't abandon stories, but if a story gets two updates in a row, it happens.

Anyway, here's switched!

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**Review Replies**

**jakeroo123:** Yea! My headcannons made sense to someone else! I honestly didn't expect that. -.- Anyway, things are about to get weirder than either of those headcannons.

**ABCSonicKirbyWarriors:** Glad you liked that chapter! I was fond of it as well. :) And yes. Cluelessness, awkwardsness, and uncool Egghead moves.

**RedHead75:** Thanks! Glad you like it. :)

**CatGirlFireflare:** OMG. Another person who thinks my headcannon makes sense. What is this world coming to? XD And here's your answer!

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**Chapter 16: So Much Damage**

The sudden burst of Chaos Energy he unleashed made him gasp in surprise. He could see the air painted red, could feel the energy rushing from the emerald, through him, and out. He was the one controlling it. He grinned at this, when the amount of energy dimmed, and panic shot through him. Then the emerald flashed brightly, and the hedgehog screamed as it shot a jarring blast of energy through him. Up his arm, and to his chest, where it blossomed painfully, before escaping in a far larger blast of Chaos. He shrieked and dropped the emerald, staggering backwards, holding his wrist, which was still flaring painfully. He staggered backwards, and leaned against the nearest building, panting heavily, and half-whimpering. The blue emerald rocked against his shoe.

He looked around. The robot was completely destroyed, the nearby buildings scorched, but otherwise unharmed. A few cars were flaming, and the streets charred as well. A few pieces of metal shifted a ways away, and Silver and Shadow extricated themselves from it, and made their way to the black hedgehog, who was staring at his hand and the emerald with shock.

Silver's green eyes were massive, and he stared around him shock. Shadow stepped forward. "How the hell did you manage that?" He gasped, staring around. "That was the strangest Chaos Blast I've ever seen." He said, then looked at the hedgehog, who was fumbling with his glove. He raised a brow. "What're you doing?"

Sonic's eyes had widened massively. He was still holding his wrist, but was now staring at his palm. "Shadow?"

"What?"

"Is this supposed to happen?" He asked nervously, displaying his palm. Shadow looked at it strangely, before his eyes widened, and he grabbed it, trying to get a better look.  
Shadow's eyes were significantly wider than usual, but with shock and surprise. Sonic's palm was blistered and angry looking, and when Shadow ran one finger over it, the dark hedgehog winced, his ears flattened, and he half-heartedly pulled away, but didn't draw away completely. Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Is this the hand you were holding the emerald in?"

Sonic nodded. "Yea. It was weird. I've never seen it happen to you. It started off normal, then the energy just...dimmed. The Emerald flared, and it unleashed a massive bursts of energy that just hurt!" the black hedgehog explained. "It came from the emerald, then shot up my-your-arm, and then to my chest, where it was...unleashed, and the Chaos Blast got bigger. I dropped the emerald, and it faded." The black hedgehog answered as Shadow looked his hand over.

The silver hedgehog sighed. "It's definitely a Chaos burn. How you got it, and how it went through my gloves is another thing entirely. The gloves are meant to resist Chaos Energy, and protect me from my own power. I'm only so resistant to chaos energy, and the gloves allow me to hold Chaos Spears without getting hurt." His eyes narrowed. "They should have protected you from the emerald easily." He said, and Sonic drew his hand close to him, wincing. "The Chaos Energy is acting weird. I can tell that just by looking at the emerald." He said, indicating the blue gem by Sonic's foot. It was pulsing strongly, growing brighter and darker, reaching nearly white and black respectively.

Sonic attempted to pull the glove back over his hand, but wincing upon trying, the blisters rejecting his attempts to even get the glove over his fingers. They ran from his palm to his fingertips. Everywhere the gem had touched when it lashed out at him. He resigned himself to keep the gloving on standby when Shadow's body healed itself, and left his hand bare for the time. He hardly noticed the diamond on the back of his hand, formed where the red stripe on his arm ended. He bent down, and picked up the jewel with his other hand. He stiffened visibly.

Shadow's eyes narrowed. "What's it doing?"

"Just keeps flaring and sending these spikes up my arm." He muttered, his ears twitching in sync with the pulsating gem.

Their attention was taken when something within the robot stirred, and Sonic's face formed a wicked snarl. He rushed forward, putting the gem in his quills, and yanked the man out of the wreckage. He looked relatively unharmed. Sonic's face was contorted in rage. "Alright, Egghead, start talking. How'd you do this to us, and how can we change it back?" He snarled, glaring at the man.

Eggman opened his mouth to answer, when Shadow-to Sonic's left-spoke first. "Didn't you hear? He didn't know our bodies were switched."

Sonic's eyes narrowed, though the effect was greatly lessened by his constantly flinching by the pulsing emerald in his quills. Eggman noticed. "What's the matter, Rodent, having issues?"

Sonic's eyes narrowed further, and a snarl passed over his face. Silver put a hand on his shoulder. "He doesn't know anything, so hurting him won't help. We're on our own with this." He said placatingly. Sonic snorted, and dropped the man, before turning to go. He put his gloved hand on his wrist, wincing as he flexed his hand again.

He looked over at Shadow once he was out of earshot. "What do we do with this?" He asked, his ears flattening as he flexed his fingers.

Shadow shrugged. "Not sure, really. Chaos Burns are pretty tough things. You should heal fast, but I'm not sure how long it'll take. I've never gotten one." Sonic hissed and shook his head. The gem fell out, and he relaxed visibly. Shadow bent down and picked it up. He looked at it strangely. "It must be your heightened Chaos senses, because it feels normal to me." He said, passing it to Silver. He also shrugged.

The black hedgehog sighed. "Lucky me." He grumbled. "First my head starts spinning whenever I hold a Chaos Emerald then that Chaos Radar thing messes with my head, now I can't hold a Chaos Emerald without getting burned, and I can't touch one without getting a nasty shock every time I do." He grumbled, his quills flared, and he stiffened, walking faster towards his house. "Maye Tails'll have an idea." He wondered to himself.

Silver shot Shadow a look. "He's acting more like you." He said, tipping his head.

Shadow snorted. "It'll pass. There's only enough room for one grumpy hedgehog 'round here. And he hates it when he's compared to me anyway." The silver hedgehog answered, picking up the pace.

XXX

They reached Sonic's house and stepped inside to find him showing the burn to Tails, who was studying it with wide eyes. They couldn't quite hear what he was saying, but Tails would periodically nod back to him. The fox finally rushed back upstairs, and Sonic turned to the others, smiling slightly. "Hey. Sorry I ran off on you." He said, smiling slightly.

Shadow nudged the other. "What'd I say?" He asked, smirking.

Sonic gave them a funny look, but his attention was taken as Tails came back downstairs, a roll of gauze and a tube of something in his hands. He ignored the others for a moment as he took off his gloves and spread some of the stuff in the tube onto a piece of the gauze, and trying to wrap it around the hedgehog's hand. Every attempt was thwarted as Sonic repeatedly pulled back, wincing, when the soaked gauze touched the blisters.

Tails finally noticed the other two when Shadow snorted. "You can handle almost getting crushed by a robot, a Chaos Blast that does that, and an emerald that hurts you when you touch it, but you can't handle your little brother putting a little bit of gauze on your blisters?"

Sonic glared at him half-heartedly. "Pardon me if you didn't warn me about this if I used a Chaos Blast."

Shadow looked at the hedgehog with a genuine glare. "It never happens to me, how could I warn you?"

Sonic chuckled. "I'm just kidding, Shad-CHAOS THAT STINGS!" He yelped. Tails had taken advantage of the distraction, and grabbed the black hedgehog's wrist and put the gauze over it. Tails gave him an apologetic look as his ears flattened, though they almost immediately relaxed, and he smiled. "That's better."

Tails grinned. "Knuckles gave me some after that whole Werehog thing." Sonic flinched, and not because another layer of gauze was placed on his hand. Tails' eyes widened. "I wasn't supposed to bring that up. Sorry, Sonic. I forgot." Tails immediately said, his ears flattening.

Sonic smiled slightly. "I-its fine, Tails. We all forget things." He said, giving the fox grateful glance, his ears twitched, though, when, another strip of gauze fell onto his hands.

Silver gave Shadow a look when the silver hedgehog looked away awkwardly. "What's he talking about?"

"Nothing. Something that happened a little while back." He answered, then looked at Tails. "So, Knuckles made that after that whole thing?"

Tails nodded as he fixed another strip. "Yea. He's good with all sorts of funny medicines. He figured we'd need it more than him, since Sonic gets into so many fights with you."

Shadow frowned. "He's right." He said, smiling wryly.

Sonic grinned awkwardly, then winced as Tails started working the bandages so they stayed put and covered his entire palm.

His ears remained flattened as Tails kept his hand still to wrap it. Shadow chuckled. "Wuss."

Sonic glared at him. "You've never had a Chaos Burn. They're terrible things." He grumbled, half-heartedly hissing when Tails tugged on the bandages again.

Shadow snorted. "I'm aware of the fact. There's a reason I where the gloves I do."

Sonic gave him a curious look. "So you have gotten one?"

The silver hedgehog crossed his arms and leaned against the nearest wall. "You'd be surprised the amount of thought that goes into my gloves and shoes, Faker."

Sonic tipped his head. "Guess that makes sense. My shoes are special for me too."

That caught Shadow's attention. "I'm sorry?"

The black hedgehog chuckled. "D'you know how many shoes I'd go through at supersonic speeds otherwise? They're specially designed to resist high speeds, and have incredible traction so I don't slip on something."

The transformed agent nodded. "Makes sense." He then turned his attention to the blue hedgehog, who was fidgeting awkwardly in the corner. "What about you, Silver?"

The blue hedgehog jumped at being addressed so suddenly. "N-Not really." He answered, wringing his gloves. "My gloves and shoes are fire resistant, and they conduct my powers somehow. I think it's like the way your shoes can use Chaos Energy to power rockets, but opposite. I never questioned it." He answered, the green gaze flickering around him strangely.

Sonic gave him a strange look. "What're you thinking' about?"

The blue hedgehog's ears flattened in uncertainty. "Well…It's just…when you used the Chaos Blast….It sorta looked like my home." He answered uncertainly, his gaze flicking up to Sonic and Shadow who looked stunned. "I was thinking about it a while ago too." He muttered, slightly ashamed. "When we were busting into Eggman's base. How two hedgehogs could do so much damage." He muttered, looking up again. When neither Sonic nor Shadow spoke, he continued quietly. "If you wanted, the two of you could destroy cities."

Shadow gave a harsh bark of laughter. "Not could, did." Silver's eyes grew massive and scared. "Sonic's done it to Station Square multiple times."

The black hedgehog flushed brilliantly, his tan cheeks the only thing changing color. "Not on purpose." He muttered.

Tails had finished wrapping the black hand and looked up at the horrified hedgehog. "It wasn't his fault either time, Silver." He said, smiling slightly, his large blue eyes managing to meet the green. "And Sonic saved the city too. He fixed it. He'd never destroy one on purpose, much less multiple."

Sonic nodded. "Whatever ruined our future, it wasn't Shadow and me. Promise." He said, his crimson eyes managing to become sympathetic. Something Shadow had never managed.

Silver smiled slightly, though he still looked uncertain. "A-Alright."

Sonic grinned, pulling his glove back on. "Well, we trashed some Eggman, and got my hand fixed up a bit. Now what?" He asked.

Shadow shrugged. "We should probably ask Knuckles about the Chaos Energy. See if the Master Emerald's doing anything funny."

On comical cue, the door slammed open, and a red echidna stormed into the house, his ears practically smoking. He whirled on the blue hedgehog, and roared. "WHAT'D YOU DO THIS TIME YOU MORON?!" Silver stepped back, his eyes massive.

Sonic-not wanting Knuckles to strangle the innocent and time traveler and screw up time, slid in front, grinning awkwardly. Knuckles stared at him, no doubt stunned by the fact that Shadow was grinning. "Look, Knux, how about you don't murder Silver and try talking things through?"

The red echidna stared at him, his mouth open in confusion and shock. "What the hell are you talking about, Shadow? And why did you call me Knux?"

The silver hedgehog stepped in and answered briskly. "We ran into Eggman, got electrocuted, and switched bodies. I'm Shadow, Silver is the blue hedgehog, and Faker is in my body." He grated, crossing his arms.

Knuckles stopped for a moment, processing things, before whirling on the black hedgehog, and slamming him against the wall-nearly cracking it-by his neck, his feet off the ground.

Sonic's eyes widened, and he pulled at the fist, not too worried about being strangled. As soon as he started turning back to his normal shade of blue, Knuckles would let him go. But getting there wasn't fun. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THIS TIME?!" The echidna shrieked, ignoring the attempts of the other to pry him off the black hedgehog, who was trying to not power on his rocket shoes and roast the echidna and his house.

He grinned half-heartedly, choking slightly as he answered. "When we switched bodies, the Chaos Energy started acting funny." He coughed, pulling at the stiff arm again. "That what you mean?"

Knuckles' eyes narrowed, and he pulled back, allowing Sonic fall back to his feet, and stumbled, gasping and rubbing his neck. Silver stared at him with massive eyes. Sonic grinned slightly. "He does that a lot. Got lucky this time. He doesn't seem to blame me too much. Didn't squeeze as hard this time." He coughed again, and watched the echidna as he started to speak.

"I still blame you, hedgehog, it always comes back to you." Knuckles grated. "But I also know you can't fix it immediately." The echidna stalked back and forth, his eyes narrowed. "What do you mean the Chaos Energy is acting funny? And how do you know?"

onic answered again, still rubbing his neck, though he wasn't choking or coughing anymore. "I tried to use a Chaos Blast, and ended up getting a massive Chaos Burn on my hand." He said, pulling off his glove and showing the echidna the bandaged hand. "I picked up the emerald again, and it kept sending these random spikes of harsh energy up my arm, and it flashes in a pattern as well." He said, nodding to Silver, who pulled the blue emerald out of his quills and handed it to Knuckles.

The echidna's eyes narrowed his took it, and immediately winced and dropped it. "I see what you mean…" He muttered, rubbing his hand. Then looked up. "Can only you and I feel the spikes? And you mean a full blown Chaos Burn?"

Sonic nodded. "Unless Shadow and Silver are very good at lying and not wincing, yes. And yes. I'd take off the bandages for you to see, but it hurts, so I don't really want to." He answered, slipping the glove back over the bandages. Knuckles narrowed his eyes again in thought. "Is the Master Emerald acting funny?"

"Flashing like this one." He said, indicating the gem in Shadow's hands. "It started earlier this morning. Pretty early. I was sleeping when it started flashing weirdly and woke me up." He crossed his arms. "I came down to see what you'd done last time, considering the last time the Master Emerald started acting funny, you had drained all the Chaos Emeralds of their power."

Sonic winced and rubbed his hand. "Don't remind me." He muttered, looking away.

Knuckles snorted. "It happened, hedgehog, don't pretend it didn't."

Sonic glared at him and opened his mouth to spit a retort, when Shadow interrupted. "Fighting isn't helping. Echidna, can we see the Master Emerald? We might find something you missed."

Knuckles snorted. "You'll find something that the Guardian of the Master Emerald himself missed?"

Shadow glared at him. "By us, I mean Sonic."

The black hedgehog blinked in surprise. "Me?" He pointed to himself.

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Yes you. You're the only one of us who has a better chance of finding something important than Knuckles."

Sonic swallowed slightly. "No pressure then."

* * *

Weirdness. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! And review if you did!

They help me write faster. ;)


	17. Competition

UUUURG.

This took WAY too long. I'm sorry. I had to collect my thoughts and what I was gonna put where.

Oh, and that unleashed reference last time? Check out my other story The Darkness in Me, chapters eight and nine for the reference.

If I owned the characters in this story, Sonic would actually be hydrophobic and not swim at all in the games. Seriously.

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**Review Replies**

**Sheigo627:** Very much so. Let's see how he handles it.

**CatGirlFireflare:** Yea...but-unfortunately-you'll have to wait a bit longer...;)

**jakeroo123:** Well, Rouge would fly mostly, and Blaze would...jump...that sounds stupid even to me. And sure! Fire away!

**DeaShasta:** Glad you like! Have some more!

**SonicGirl89:** I snagged a piece from one of my other stories, The Darkness in Me. I tend to do that quite a bit...It's in the most recent chapter. Well, I'm uploading it too right now, so the two most recent ones in this story. But Silvy will probably stay in the dark.

**LillyGeneva:** Go ahead! And maybe we could collab it sometimes? Not the entire time, cuz I'm doing my own, but a few pages I could do lineart, you color, or vice-versa. And I've got this silly little idea of his house. It's based a lot on his archie house. One big room on the main floor with the kitchen, living room, dining room, stuff like that. Upstairs is a smaller floor with the bedrooms and a bathroom. downstairs is the largest and dedicated to Tails' workshop. It's not cannon-as we never see his house-but that's what it looks like in my head.

**JellyfishSoup:** Really? I didn't know they made so much sense! XD Glad they work well though. :)

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**Chapter 17: Competition**

"GOD DAMMIT!"

"Watch the pits."

"Thank you, SO much." Shadow snarled in return, yellow eyes glaring at the black hedgehog as he floated himself out of the hole.

Sonic snickered, his red gaze watching keenly for other traps. So far, he was the only one who hadn't been fooled by the traps, as a life of fighting Eggman had made him very perceptive of traps and noticing the tiniest details that gave them away. That patch of flattened grass was another pit. The disturbed leaf pile was a tree snare. That rock face that looked so real? The grass was flattened in front of it, meaning it had been moved at some point.

The other reason was because he was putting his feet exactly where Knuckles did.

The echidna had finally caved and allowed them all to visit Angel Island to see if they could find anything he had missed, though he was certain they wouldn't. Despite this, they'd persuaded him, and-with the help of Shadow's powers-arrived within a half hour.

Knuckles stopped and turned to them, a glare in his violet eyes. "I swear, if you-"

"'-tell anyone, I'll make you grandkids hurt.' Yea, yea, we know. Just get on with it." Sonic finished the sentence, crossing his arms.

Knuckles glared at him venomously, but swept aside a hanging curtain of thick vines. Even Sonic had missed that this was a secret passage. Cliché? Yes. But effective nonetheless. There were massive trees covered in the same plant surrounding them, and one sprouted from the rock face the vines were hiding. It looked exactly like all the other plants, there was no reason to suspect there was something there. The three hedgehogs filed into the cave, Knuckles following last. He quickly took up the lead of the procession, for which Sonic was grateful. No need to completely embarrass himself by stumbling on a trap. He resumed placing his feet exactly where Knuckles put his.

The tunnel stretched on for another fifteen minutes. Sonic looked around it curiously. "I didn't Know Angel Island was so big. Thought it was a bit smaller than this."

Knuckles grunted, as though slightly offended. "It's a lot bigger than most people think. That, and we're going underground."

Sonic's features registered surprise. "I thought it was aboveground?"

"Moved it because it's easier to protect like this, and Eggman doesn't know where it is, aside from it being on Angel Island."

Sonic nodded. "Makes sense. So…how close are we?" He asked. His head was starting to spin like it did when he held a Chaos Emerald.

"Getting there." Knuckles grunted.

Sonic's stomach churned uncomfortably. If they were still so far away from the Master Emerald, how the hell was he going to deal with standing right next to it? He forced his eyes down and lit a small fire in his hand, like Shadow had said, to release some of the energy flooding him. It was barely enough for someone to notice, but it helped significantly.

It was another five minutes at a good pace when the tunnel opened up into a cavern, and Sonic's head began to ache. He shook it irritably, then looked around. His jaw dropped. It looked almost identical to the shrine above. The pillars even looked old. Sonic looked around in awe. "Did you make this?" he asked, running a hand over the worn stone.

"No. The Ancient Echidna's built two shrines. I just dug this one out and built the tunnel." He jerked his head to the ceiling, where a patchwork of stone formed a circle. "That's how I found it."

Sonic shrugged and looked back at the emerald, his ears twitching as he winced in time with the pulsing. In addition, his headache spiked each time it reached almost white, or almost black. Even Silver and Shadow looked uneasy around it, while Knuckles looked worried, and Sonic caught him rubbing his head. _So I'm not the only one getting a weird vibe from it._ He shifted his gaze back to the emerald and fed more energy into the flame in his hand as he walked up the steps towards it.

Silver and Shadow walked around the perimeter of the shrine, studying it from all angles to see if there was anything down there. Knuckles leaned against the wall, watching them all suspiciously, and keeping a particularly sharp eye on the black hedgehog circling the massive gem at the top of the shrine.

Sonic nervously stepped over the ring of water around the Master Emerald and stepped closer to it, his crimson eyes narrowed in a shockingly good imitation of what Shadow normally looked like. The flame in his hand went out, and he was flooded with Chaos Energy. He paused for a moment-reeling-before cautiously setting his burned hand on the gem.

The world died in two sharp shrieks and a flash of seven colors.

XXX

"Sonic? Chaos, echidna, did you forget to mention that you booby-trapped the Master Emerald too?"

"I did not booby-trap it! I have no idea what happened aside from the Master Emerald glowing really bright and my head hurting real bad."

"Maybe Sonic can tell us, guys. He's coming around."

"Good thing you caught him, Shadow. He might've been out for a hell of a lot longer if you hadn't."

"You underestimate how much punishment my body can take, Echidna."

"Your body and Sonic's stubbornness? Pfft. He could survive a nuclear blast with that combonation."

"I am not stubborn, Knux." Sonic finally managed after regaining control of his tongue. He sat up, rubbing his head, as he forced his vision into focus. "I just don't like giving up."

Knuckles snorted, and looked about to snap a harsh retort when silver broke in. "What happened?"

Sonic's face twisted into confusion. "You tell me. I just remember touching the Master Emerald and everything went black."

"You touched the Emerald and screamed. You and Knuckles both did." Silver filled in, his gaze flickering to the echidna. He didn't look thrilled that Sonic now knew he'd screamed. "After that you kinda staggered backwards and fell off the edge. Shadow caught you." He jerked his head to the silver hedgehog, who also didn't looked thrilled that he'd saved Sonic. "Anything else happen to you?"

Sonic put a pinky in his ear, which was ringing furiously. "Not much. I do remember a really bad headache and a bunch of colors though. Seven. One for each Chaos Emerald." He frowned. "But I feel like I should remember something else. Something important…" He trailed off in his thoughts.

Knuckles snarled loudly. "How the hell did you manage to get a vision and I didn't? And why the hell did the Master Emerald share it with you and not me?" He spat.

Sonic shrugged awkwardly, feeling that this was not the right answer. Silver shifted awkwardly not entirely sure what to say in this situation. Thankfully, Shadow stepped in. "Because-aside from Chaos itself-Sonic is currently the most powerful Chaos being in existence. How can you-just a guardian-compete with that?"

The black hedgehog was stunned. Did Shadow just stick up for him? And he was now the most powerful Chaos being there was?"

Knuckles' fur rose aggressively. "The guardian of the Master Emerald is supposed to be the most powerful!"

Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Your ancestors and the Master Emerald weren't counting in me being genetically made in a lab."

Sonic shifted awkwardly, feeling like he should say something, but not sure what to say. Knuckles growled softly. "He's not the most powerful. He can't harness the power of the Master Emerald."

Shadow raised a brow. "I'd say he just did. Not only that, but he can use Chaos Energy in more ways than just the Master Emerald. Aside from the embodiment of Chaos Energy, I'd say he's the most powerful."

Sonic finally found _something_ to say. "Wait, Knux, why're you so upset I passed out and you didn't?"

Silence fell.

"He's right." Shadow said, stifling a smirk at the hedgehog's dumb logic. It was because he was more powerful that he'd passed out.

"I thought you'd be gloating over how weak I am-or Shadz' body is-to Choas Energy. Why're you so upset about this?" He asked curiously, in the way that only Sonic could manage to make a question sound so _damn innocent._ From anyone else, it would've sounded condescending, but-even in Shadow's body-he managed to make it innocent. Knuckles ground his teeth. He knew the answer. And he was pretty sure Shadow did too.

He was jealous.

_He_ was supposed to be the one in charge of the Master Emerald. _He_ was supposed to be the one who received messages from it. _He_ should have been the one passing out from the vision. _He _should have been the one trying to collect his thoughts and decide what he'd seen.

Not Sonic. Sonic wasn't supposed to be able to do all those things because of some stupid trap set by Eggman gone wrong. Nobody said anything, and Sonic cleared his throat awkwardly. "So…I'll tell you if I figure out what happened…?" He trailed off uncertainly and his ears flattened as Knuckles tossed a withering glare at him. He seemed to shrink at this and looked away.

Shadow snorted and turned to the red member of their party. "But seriously, can we go now?"

Knuckles nodded angrily and tossed a glance at the Master Emerald. So did everyone else. In all the excitement, they had forgotten to see if the Master Emerald had changed. It had faded to its neutral green, and pulsed with its usual inner glow, like it had accomplished its mission. "It feels normal too." Sonic added. The Chaos Energy wasn't as harsh or aggressive as it had been before he'd passed out. Nonetheless, he lit another fire in his hand. Shadow couldn't help but be surprised by how faithfully he stuck to that coping mechanism. He shrugged this thought away and turned to the tunnel, allowing Knuckles to take the lead.

They walked back in complete silence. The only sound was their feet on the ground and the crackling of the flame in Sonic's hand. No one got caught in any traps on the way back, and they left the island silently with the help of Shadow's powers. Sonic finally let the flame die.

Shadow looked over at the black hedgehog, who still hadn't spoken. "You're awfully subdued." As much as he loved the silence, it was unnerving.

"Just how Knuckles was acting." Sonic muttered. "I've seen him mad before, but this was different. Not even that he was mad at me, but it was like I'd done something unforgivable."

Shadow raised a brow. Since when was Sonic s perceptive? He briefly wondered if there was more to the hedgehog than antagonizing everyone around him and the equation: Robot + Eggman + Me = Smash. He assumed there had to be, but he'd never really thought about what. "He's probably upset that you found something important."

"But I didn't _find_ it!" Sonic practically whined. "I touched the Master Emerald and got a massive headache! There's nothing special about that! The same thing could have happened to Knuckles, so why'd it happen to _me_?"

Silver butted in. "There's gotta be a reason the Master Emerald showed it to you. You never know, even if you were still in your own body, it could have still chosen you. These things happen for a reason."

Silence met his words as Sonic thought about it. Then Shadow snorted. "You have no idea how weird it is to hear something sensible coming from Sonic's voice."

The black hedgehog bristled indignantly before countering. "As strange as it is to hear something kind from yours?"

Shadow gave him a withering glare. "I will drop you."

"Go for it." Sonic scoffed, an infuriatingly cocky smirk on his face. How the hell could he always do that? Even not in his own body? "I've fallen from worse and gotten away fine."

Shadow raised a brow. "Let's test that theory." The aura surrounding him disappeared, and Sonic shrieked in surprise when he suddenly plummeted.

Silver winced at the satisfying poof of dirt that erupted when he hit the ground, while Shadow smirked broadly and landed next to where he'd landed.

A pair of black legs and arms were struggling to free their owner's head from the earth, and scrabbled against the ground furiously.

Shadow snorted loudly at the sight. Sonic must've heard, because his efforts doubled, and when he resurfaced, he landed a solid right hook on the silver hedgehog's cheek. He turned indignantly on his heel and walked away.

Shadow rubbed his cheek with one hand-the other was currently supporting his chest from where he was sitting-and smirked. "Thought that would work." He said smugly at the retreating back.

* * *

Welp. Hope you enjoyed! I don't think it _quite_ makes up for the massive absence (I don't even want to try and figure out how long it was) but definitely a good chapter. KEEP THE GAG RUNNING.

Hope you enjoyed, and review if you did! Makes me write faster. ;)


	18. ON HIATUS

NOT AN UPDATE.

This is a notice.

I'm sorry, this story has gotten a lot of love, and I'd love to keep working on it, but my motivation for this one has completely gone down the drain. I'll hopefully come back to it later once I feel motivated again, but The Darkness In Me has come to the front of my mind since I started it, and every time I sit down to work on this one, nothing happens.

I'm sorry, this story has gotten so much love, but I've hit a dead end. I hope to return to it later, maybe once I finish The Darkness In Me.

So this is officially a hiatus. I'll try to work on the story during this, but no guarantees. Hopefully I'll come back to these, if not, then I'll post a summary of what I was planning on happening next.

Again, so sorry.

Hopefully I'll do something worth posting on these later.

Until then, check out The Darkness In Me. It's a Sonic unleashed re-write with some extra characters tossed in.


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